With the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament set to begin next week in St. Louis, the Redbirds (18-11, 10-7 MVC) can assure themselves of at least a No. 4 seed with a victory over Evansville (19-10, 9-8 MVC). Illinois State would earn the No. 3 seed with the combination of an ISU win at Evansville and an Indiana State loss at Bradley. The Purple Aces can earn either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed.
The Redbirds are aiming for their fifth conference road victory of the season, which would mark ISU's most league road wins since also winning five in 2007-08. After beating Evansville in Normal, Illinois, earlier this year, ISU is also striving to sweep its fifth MVC series, a feat not accomplish since sweeping five in 2007-08.
TELEVISION BROADCAST
Saturday's game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FOX Sports Midwest, ESPN Full Court and ESPN3. Below are channel listings where the game can be found:
- Comcast XFINITY (Bloomington-Normal):Â 56, 57, 519, 522, 533, 837, 922, 959
- DirecTV:Â 665, 671, 724
- DISH:Â 418, 429, 5418
- AT&T U-Verse: 741, 1741, 1748, 4505
- Comcast XFINITY (Chicago-area): 37, 200, 413, 837
- Mediacom: 33, 733
- ESPN3.com
THE SERIES:
Illinois State plays at Evansville Saturday afternoon for the 51st meeting in the all-time series dating back to 1952, which the Redbirds lead, 32-18. ISU is 10-14 versus the Purple Aces in Evansville, Indiana, with an 0-3 mark at the Ford Center, which opened in November of 2011. UE has earned four-straight home-court victories over the Redbirds, with ISU's last win in Evansville occurring Jan. 6, 2010. Head coach Dan Muller is 3-2 versus Evansville.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?:
Illinois State can earn seeds No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5 for the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. To secure the No. 3 seed, the Redbirds must win against Evansville AND Indiana State must lose at Bradley. Evansville can still earn the No. 4 or No. 5 seed. For the No. 4 seed, UE must win AND Bradley must lose. A Redbird win would also guarantee ISU a third-place finish, the team's highest since tying for third in 2011-12.
ILLINOIS STATE AT A GLANCE:
Improved to 18-11 and 10-7 in the MVC after winning three-straight, most recently beating Southern Illinois (Feb. 25) ... is 6-5 on the road ... leads the MVC in blocked shots, steals and offensive rebounds per game ... led by Daishon Knight who ranks No. 5 in the MVC with 14.1 points per game ... selected to finish fifth in the MVC.
EVANSVILLE AT A GLANCE:
Fell to 19-10 and 9-8 in the MVC after losing two-straight, most recently falling at No. 10 Northern Iowa ... leads the MVC in assists and defensive rebounds ... holds an 11-4 record at home ... led by D.J. Balentine who ranks No. 1 in the MVC with 18.9 points in 36.1 minutes played per game ... picked to finish fourth in the MVC.
EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. EVANSVILLE
Illinois State set the tone defensively early in the game against Evansville and jumped out to an early lead it would never relinquish, as Reggie Lynch scored 16 points to lead the Redbirds to an impressive 77-51 win over the Purple Aces on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (Feb. 3). Lynch tied a career high at the time with his 16 points and was joined in double figures by MiKyle McIntosh with 13 points, Deontae Hawkins with 12 points and Paris Lee with 11 points to accompany seven assists.
SEEDING SCENARIOS
Illinois State enters its regular-season finale with the chance to earn either the No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5 seed at next week's Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament. Four scenarios remain:
No. 3 with a win at Evansville AND an Indiana State loss at Bradley
Final Records: ILS: 11-7, INS: 10-8, UE: 9-9
No. 4 with a win at Evansville AND an Indiana State win at Bradley
Final Records: INS: 11-7, ILS: 11-7, UE: 9-9
Tiebreaker: INS swept regular-season series vs. ILS, 2-0, so INS wins tiebreaker.
No. 4 with a loss at Evansville AND an Indiana State win at Bradley
Final Records: INS: 11-7, ILS: 10-8, UE: 10-8
Tiebreaker: ILS vs. UE regular-season series tied, 1-1, so ILS wins the tiebreaker based on NCSS (ILS: 44, UE: 185). *This is the NCSS as of 2/27/15. The tiebreaker NCSS will be based on the 2/28/15 NCSS.
No. 5 with a loss at Evansville AND an Indiana State loss at Bradley
Final Records: INS: 10-8, UE: 10-8, ILS, 10-8
Tiebreaker: All three teams are tied, so the tie is broken based on pooling into a "mini round-robin."
W-L Pool Record: INS: 3-1, UE: 2-2, ILS: 1-3
TOP-THREE WITHIN REACH
The Redbirds enter Saturday's game at Evansville tied for third place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-7 league record. An Illinois State win over the Purple Aces would guarantee the Redbirds at least a tie for third in the final MVC standings, marking ISU's highest conference finish since tying for third in 2011-12. If Illinois State wins and Indiana State loses at Bradley, the Redbirds would earn third place outright for the first time since 2009-10. Eleven MVC victories would be the most since 11 wins in 2009-10.
SWEEPING UP
With a 67-60 victory over Loyola (Feb. 21), Illinois State earned its fourth Missouri Valley Conference regular-season sweep of the season, marking the first time that the Redbirds have swept four MVC foes since also sweeping four during the 2008-09 season. This year, ISU has swept Bradley, Drake, Loyola and Missouri State. After beating Evansville at home (Feb. 3), the Redbirds have one more chance for a series sweep Saturday against the Purple Aces, which would mark ISU's most MVC sweeps since also earning five during the 2007-08 season.
ROAD WARRIORS
A year after going 3-11 on the road – with just one Missouri Valley Conference victory – ISU won its fourth MVC road game of the year by beating Bradley in Peoria, Illinois (Feb. 18), marking the first time that the Redbirds have earned four MVC road victories since going 4-5 in MVC road games during the 2008-09 season. A Redbird win over Evansville Saturday would be ISU's fifth MVC road victory of the year, marking ISU's most league road wins since also earning five during the 2007-08 season.
STREAKING
Illinois State enters Saturday's regular-season finale at Evansville on a three-game winning streak. If the Redbirds extend their streak to four with a win over UE, it would mark ISU's longest winning streak since winning four in a row early last season. It would also be Illinois State's longest MVC winning streak since a four-game streak in 2012-13. The last time ISU finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak was in 2007-08, when the Redbirds advanced to the MVC Tournament title game followed by the NIT.
DEFENSIVE DUO
ISU is the only program in the nation to feature players in the top 20 for both steals and blocks per game. Sophomore guard Paris Lee leads the MVC and ranks No. 9 nationally with 2.6 steals per game, while sophomore center Reggie Lynch leads the league and ranks No. 17 nationally with 2.8 blocks per game.
RE-IGKNITED
After being held scoreless for just the second time in his career (Feb. 14 against No. 13 Wichita State), senior guard Daishon Knight bounced back to reach double figures in ISU's last three games, leading the Redbirds to three-straight victories. In the last three games, he has averaged a team-best 15.7 points while shooting 17-for-36 (47.2 percent) from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line. Knight has now recorded double-figures in 26 out of the last 35 games dating back to last season. He is the only Redbird to have started all 29 of ISU's games this season, and has a team-best streak of 43-straight starts.
DOUBLE-THREAT DeVAUGHN
Junior guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has emerged as one of ISU's best scorers and rebounders. He scored a career-best 24 points on 7-for-14 (50.0 percent) shooting from the field in ISU's win over Southern Illinois (Feb. 24). During ISU's current three-game streak, Akoon-Purcell has led the Redbirds with 7.0 rebounds and 15.7 points per game. The Orlando, Florida, native reached double-digit scoring in 15 of his 22 games. He has also collected seven or more rebounds nine times this season, with two double-doubles.
STEALING A RECORD
In Illinois State's game at No. 12 Northern Iowa (Feb. 11), sophomore point guard Paris Lee set the ISU single-season steals record, earning his third steal of the game and 62nd of the season at the 12:41 mark, forcing Wyatt Lohaus to turn the ball over at midcourt. Lee passed the previous record of 61, established by Todd Starks in 1986-87. Lee now has 72 steals this season and 119 for his career. Lee's 2.6 steals per game is also on pace to set ISU's season steals average mark, which is 2.0, set by Ron Jones in 1979-80.
SOPHOMORE SWATTER
Sophomore center Reggie Lynch has 75 blocks this season, establishing a school record for rejections by a sophomore player. Last year, Evansville's Egidijus Mockevicius had 65 blocks as a sophomore, and the league's record is 157. Lynch needs one more to claim second in MVC history for blocks by a sophomore.
MVC Single-Season Leaders (Sophomore Season)
157 - Benoit Benjamin, Creighton (1983-84)
75 - Reggie Lynch, Illinois State (2014-15)
75 - Grant Stout, UNI (2004-05)
72 - Patrick O'Bryant, Bradley (2005-06)
FULL STRENGTH
Everyone on Illinois State's active roster has been healthy in ISU's last five games. In total, injuries caused ISU players to miss a combined 21 games: DeVaughn Akoon Purcell, seven, broken right hand; Deontae Hawkins, 10, stress reaction in left foot; Reggie Lynch, two, back pain; Paris Lee, one, knee; John Jones, one, plantar fasciitis in left foot. ISU has gone 6-2 in the MVC when the Redbirds are healthy.
REBOUNDING REDBIRDS
By outrebounding No. 12 Northern Iowa (Feb. 11), Illinois State earned the rebounding advantage in seven-consecutive games for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The streak was snapped versus No. 13 Wichita State (Feb. 14). However, ISU has now outrebounded the opposition in two-straight games.
FIRST-HALF ATTACK
Illinois State has held the halftime advantage in all but six games - with two ties - this season. ISU is 17-4 when leading at halftime, 1-1 when tied, and 0-6 when trailing at the half. ISU has also earned a cumulative +6.0 scoring margin in the first half, compared to a +0.6 second-half scoring margin.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
The Redbirds lead the Missouri Valley Conference in steals (7.6) per game and blocks (4.3), which is No. 47 and No. 82 in the nation, respectively.
REBOUNDING DIVIDEND
ISU leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 12.9 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks No. 28 nationally. Illinois State has established a +3.4 offensive rebounding margin (374-276), while holding an advantage on the offensive glass in 19 games, with two ties. ISU has capitalized on its offensive boards, scoring 138 more second-chance points than its opponents (341-203).Â
DECISIVE WINS
The Redbirds have earned 12 (out of 18) double-digit wins compared to just two double-digit losses (out of 11). Six of Illinois State's defeats have been by five points or less.
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