Redbird Men Open MVC Slate Thursday at Home

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State tips off the 2016-17 Missouri Valley Conference season versus Evansville Thursday at 7 p.m. on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Winners in four of their past five games, the Redbirds finished nonconference play with an 8-4 record. The Purple Aces have won seven-straight games to go 9-4 during the nonconference season.

ILLINOIS STATE VS. EVANSVILLE • THURSDAY, DEC. 29, 2016 • 7 P.M.

THE SERIES:
Thursday's game marks the 55th meeting between Illinois State and Evansville, with the Redbirds holding a 35-19 advantage in the all-time series. Last year, the two teams split the regular-season series, 1-1. They last squared off Feb. 11, 2016 in Evansville, with ISU winning 70-60. Illinois State holds a 20-4 advantage over Evansville in Normal, Illinois, and a 19-4 mark in Redbird Arena, and head coach Dan Muller is 6-3 versus the Purple Aces.

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.
Evansville: Marty Simmons (Evansville, 1987) is in his 10th season as the head coach at Evansville. In 2015-16, Simmons helped the Purple Aces to a 25-9 mark and its second berth in the MVC championship game.

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.

EVANSVILLE:
Was picked to finish ninth (out of 10 teams) in the Missouri Valley Conference ... Roster includes two starters and seven letterwinners from last year's team which finished 25-9 overall and 12-6 in the MVC (tied with Illinois State for second) ... Senior guard Jaylon Brown is the MVC Player of the week after Ieading everyone with 33 points while being on the floor for all 40 minutes of a victory against Mount St. Joseph (Dec. 22).

MVC TIPOFF
In ISU's final game in the calendar year of 2016, the Illinois State men's basketball team begins a new year of Missouri Valley Conference basketball by hosting Evansville Thursday night. The Redbirds are opening MVC play at home for the third-straight season, with ISU earning a 74-61 victory over Missouri State to open the 2015-16 conference campaign (Dec. 30, 2015). Since joining the MVC in 1981-82, the Redbirds are 16-19 in conference openers, with an 8-9 record in home MVC openers. Illinois State is 0-2 in Valley openers versus Evansville, and ISU has never-before opened the Valley season at home versus UE.

PERFECT AT HOME
By earning an 81-72 home-court victory over Saint Joseph's (Dec. 18), the Redbirds finished their home nonconference season with a perfect 6-0 record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. ISU earned its first unblemished home non-conference record since going 6-0 to start the season at home in 2008-09.

PROTECTING THE NEST
Dating back to last season, Illinois State has won 12-straight games on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds' last home-court loss occurred Jan. 15, 2016 to Evansville (L, 66-55).

THIRD AT DIAMOND HEAD
Illinois State went 2-1 to earn third place at the Diamond Head Classic last week. Playing on Christmas Day for the first time in program history, the Redbirds captured third by beating Tulsa, 68-56 (Dec. 25). Previously, ISU won its tournament-opener at host-Hawai'i Dec. 22 before falling to San Francisco Dec. 23 in the tournament semifinals.

HAWK LANDS ON ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
Senior forward Deontae Hawkins represented Illinois State on the five-player Diamond Head Classic All-Tournament Team, as announced Dec. 25 upon conclusion of the tournament. Hawkins averaged 14.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game during Illinois State's three game games at the Diamond Head Classic. He shot 16-for-40 (40.0 percent) from the field and 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) at the free throw line.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
By scoring 18 points in Illinois State's win over Tulsa in the Diamond Head Classic third-place game (Dec. 25), senior guard Paris Lee increased his career point-total to 989, which is 11 away from 1,000. Lee is closing in on becoming 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).

PLAYING D IN HAWAII
Illinois State held two of its three opponents at the Diamond Head Classic below 27 percent shooting from the field. The Redbirds limited Hawai'i to 25.5 percent shooting which tied for fifth in program single-game field goal percentage defense (Dec. 22). ISU then held Tulsa to 26.9 percent shooting (Dec. 25). ISU also defended San Francisco well by limiting the Dons to 36.7 percent from the field.

PLAYING THE FIELD
By beating Tulsa (Dec. 25), Illinois State secured its third win over a 2016 NCAA Tournament qualifier. Before that, ISU beat tournament qualifier Saint Joseph's (Dec. 18) and Hawai'i (Dec. 22). The Redbirds are 3-1 against the 2016 NCAA Tournament field, with their lone loss at Tulsa (Dec. 7).

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.

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.

LEE FOR THREE!
Senior guard Paris Lee leads the league and ranks 11th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (50.8 percent). Lee has netted at least one 3-pointer in every game this season.

DEFENSE WINS GAMES
The Redbirds' defensive efforts have directly correlated with victories. ISU is 8-1 when forcing more turnovers than the opposition and 0-3 when committing more turnovers.

A SEASON FOR GIVING
Senior guard Paris Lee leads the Missouri Valley Conference and ranks 57th nationally with 5.3 assists averaged per game. In Redbird victories this season, ISU is averaging 15.5 assists and 11.6 turnovers (1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio) compared to 13.0 assists and 14.0 turnovers (0.9 assist-to-turnover ratio) in losses.

LOCKING DOWN
Illinois State leads the MVC and ranks 35th nationally by averaging 8.3 steals per game. The Redbirds also lead the league and rank 73rd nationally by averaging 4.5 blocks per contest.

A TALE OF TWO HALVES
Illinois State has held the halftime lead in 11 of its first 12 games. ISU holds a +8.4 scoring margin in first halves this season compared to a -0.7 scoring margin in second halves. The Redbirds are shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from beyond the arc in first halves versus 40.4 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3-point range in second halves. ISU is also averaging 6.1 turnovers (+2.8 turnover margin) in first halves versus 6.5 turnovers per game in second halves (-1.1 turnover margin).

WHEN THERE'S A WILL(S), THERE'S A WAY
Senior guard Tony Wills underwent surgery in late September due to a sports hernia and subsequently missed almost all preseason practices plus Illinois State's exhibition game against Quincy (Nov. 6). Since then, Wills has played in all 12 games with nine starts. Through his first four games, Wills averaged 3.5 points. However, in his past eight games, Wills has averaged 7.3 points per contest.

LEAGUE LEE-DER
For the second time in three weeks, Illinois State senior point guard Paris Lee was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week (Dec. 19). Lee led the Redbirds by scoring a career-high 24 points on a career-best eight field goals in ISU's 81-72 win over Saint Joseph's Dec. 18 on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Maywood, Illinois, native also earned MVC Player of the Week Dec. 5.

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