HONOLULU – For the second time this season, Illinois State faces former Missouri Valley Conference foe Tulsa in the Diamond Head Classic third-place game Sunday at 5 p.m. CT at the Stan Sheriff Center. Both teams are coming off of semifinal losses, as the Redbirds fell to San Francisco, 66-58, and Tulsa lost to San Diego State, 82-63.
ILLINOIS STATE VS. TULSA • SUNDAY, DEC. 25, 2016 • 5 P.M. CT
THE SERIES:
Sunday's game marks the 33rd overall meeting between Illinois State and Tulsa, with the Golden Hurricane holding an 18-14 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams last squared off, earlier this season on Dec. 7, 2016, with Tulsa winning, 70-68. A member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1934 until 1996, Tulsa is now in the American Athletic Conference. ISU is 19-27 versus current members of the American.
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Dan Muller (Illinois State, 1998) is in his fifth season as the head coach at Illinois State. Muller is the first-ever ISU coach to beat four Top-25 teams in his first four years. He led ISU to the 2015 NIT.
Tulsa: Frank Haith (Elon, 1988) is in his third season as the head coach at Tulsa. He averaged 21.5 wins in his first two seasons, while leading Tulsa to the NIT in 2014-15 and the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16.
ILLINOIS STATE:
Was picked to finish second (out of 10 teams) in the Missouri Valley Conference ... Was the only team to feature two players (out of five) on the Preseason All-MVC First Team (Paris Lee and MiKyle McIntosh) ... Returns four of five starters and seven of 11 letterwinners from last year's team, which tied for second place in the MVC with a 12-6 record, signifying ISU's highest league finish and most conference wins since the 2007-08 season.
TULSA:
Was picked to finish ninth (out of 11 teams) in the American Athletic Conference ... Returns one starter (Pat Birt) and two letterwinners from last year's 20-12 team which finished third with a 12-6 record in the American regular-season standings ... Earned an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, marking the fourth-straight season in which the Golden Hurricane reached the postseason ... Features nine newcomers to the 2016-17 roster.
HOLIDAY BALL
By facing Tulsa Sunday, Illinois State is playing on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) for the first time in program history.
TWICE IS NICE
After facing each other earlier this month (Dec. 7, 2016) in Tulsa, Okla., Illinois State and Tulsa once again meet, this time, in the third-place game of the Diamond Head Classic. ISU is aiming to even up the regular-season series after falling, 70-68, in game one. Since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, the Redbirds have never faced a nonconference opponent twice during the regular season. In 1994-95, ISU faced MVC foe Northern Iowa three times by meeting them in the Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii, and then facing them twice in conference play.
HISTORY WITH TULSA
-Muller: While ISU head coach Dan Muller is 0-1 as a coach against the Golden Hurricane, he holds a 3-1 record as a Redbird player versus Tulsa. In ISU's final game against Tulsa as a member of the MVC, Muller scored a game-high 18 points as a sophomore, but ISU fell, 69-52, in the MVC Tournament semifinals (March 3, 1996).
-Big Wins: Three out of Illinois State's 12 victories over Top-25 teams have come against nationally ranked Tulsa teams: W, 79-73 at No. 12 Tulsa (Jan. 19, 1984); W, 91-81 vs. No. 9 Tulsa (March 3, 1984 in Horton Field House); W, 73-72 at No. 17 Tulsa (Feb. 6, 1985). ISU is 3-3 versus nationally ranked Tulsa teams.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE-DOUBLE
MiKyle McIntosh (20 points, 12 rebounds) and Deontae Hawkins (12 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles in ISU's loss to San Francisco (Dec. 23), marking the first time two Redbirds earned double-doubles in the same game since Jackie Carmichael (20/10) and Tyler Brown (35/10) accomplished the feat at Utah State Feb. 23, 2013.
CLOSING IN ON 1,000
By scoring nine points in Illinois State's loss to San Francisco (Dec. 23), senior guard Paris Lee increased his career point-total to 971, which is 29 away from 1,000. Lee is aiming to become the 42nd member of ISU's 1,000-point club and the first to join since Tyler Brown scored his 1,000th point during the 2012-13 season (and finished with 1,046).
DE-FENSE
Illinois State held Hawai'i to 25.5 percent shooting from the field and blocked seven shots in a 71-45 victory over the host-Rainbow Warriors (Dec. 22) in the Diamond Head Classic opener. By holding Hawai'i to 25.5 percent shooting, the Redbirds tied for fifth in program single-game field goal percentage defense.
WELCOME BACK
Sophomore center Daouda "David" Ndiaye made his 2016-17 debut at Hawai'i (Dec. 22) after missing nearly the entire nonconference season with a stress fracture in his right foot. Ndiaye made his presence felt by matching a career high with five blocks plus six rebounds and four points in 17 minutes.
PLAYING THE FIELD
By beating Hawai'i (Dec. 22), Illinois State secured its second-straight win over a 2016 NCAA Tournament qualifier. Before that, ISU beat tournament qualifier Saint Joseph's (Dec. 18). The Redbirds are 2-1 against the 2016 NCAA Tournament field, with their lone loss at Tulsa (Dec. 7).
ALOHA!
Illinois State is playing in a regular-season tournament on the Hawaiian Islands for the fourth time in program history. After splitting its first two games, ISU holds a 7-3 record in regular-season tournaments in Hawaii.
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