ST. LOUIS – With a spot in Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals at stake, the third-seeded Illinois State men's basketball team faces sixth-seeded Indiana State Friday at 8:30 p.m. in the Arch Madness quarterfinals at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Redbirds enter the MVC Tournament having won six of their last eight games.
ILLINOIS STATE VS. INDIANA STATE • FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 • 8:30 P.M.
THE SERIES:
Friday's game marks the 116th meeting between Illinois State and Indiana State. The Redbirds lead the all-time series, 61-54, after splitting this year's regular-season series, with the home team winning each time. Versus Indiana State in the MVC Tournament, Illinois State is 4-2 overall and 3-1 in St. Louis (most recently a 69-65 win in 2010). Illinois State has matched up with Indiana State in the MVC quarterfinals in five out of six tourney meetings.
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Dan Muller (Illinois State, 1998) is in his fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State (76-57). Muller is the first-ever ISU coach to beat four Top-25 teams in his first four years, leading ISU to the 2015 NIT.
Indiana State: Greg Lansing (South Dakota, 1990) is in his sixth season as the head coach at Indiana State (108-87). Lansing led Indiana State to the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11 and earned his 100th victory this season.
ABOUT ILLINOIS STATE:
Is the MVC Tournament's No. 3 seed after tying with Evansville for second in the regular-season standings (12-6)Â ... earned a win over all nine league opponents at least once ... picked to finish fourth (out of 10 teams) in the MVC ... return three of five starters and six of 13 letterwinners from last year's team, which went 22-13 overall, advancing to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) ... tied for third in the 2014-15 MVC standings.
ABOUT INDIANA STATE:
Is the MVC Tournament's No. 6 seed after tying with Missouri State for sixth in the regular-season standings (8-10) ... picked to finish sixth (out of 10 teams) in the MVC ... return three of five starters and nine of 12 letterwinners from last year's team, which recorded a 15-16 overall record and an 11-7 MVC mark (third place) ... feature All-MVC Second Team selections Devonte Brown and Brenton Scott.
LET'S DANCE
A year after falling to Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship game, the Redbirds have their sites set on returning to the title game yet again. Illinois State has made it to the championship game in four out of the past eight years, which marks more title-game appearances during the eight-year stretch than any other MVC program. Unfortunately for the Redbirds, ISU has gone 0-4 in its last four title games, including two overtime losses. Illinois State is aiming to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998, which was the last time that ISU won Arch Madness. The Redbirds hold the second-longest NCAA drought amongst current league members, behind Loyola.
QUARTERFINAL SUCCESS
Illinois State enters the 2016 MVC Tournament with a 22-8 record in quarterfinal matchups. The Redbirds have won six out of their past eight quarterfinal games, last falling in the quarterfinals to Missouri State in 2014. ISU has matched up with Indiana State in the Valley Tournament quarterfinals in five out of six tournament meetings, with the Redbirds going 4-1 versus the Sycamores in those quarterfinal games.
SECURING A SEED
Illinois State (18-13, 12-6) and Evansville (23-8, 12-6) tied for second place in the final MVC standings, forcing a tie-breaker to determine which team would earn the higher MVC Tournament seed. Because the two teams split their regular-season series against one another, the tie was broken based on Jim Sukup's Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report, released Feb. 28. The Aces finished the regular season with an RPI of 91 compared to ISU's 106. Therefore, Evansville earned the No. 2 seed and the Redbirds received the No. 3 seed, which is ISU's highest seed since also receiveing the third seed in 2010.
TOWARD THE TOP
By finishing the regular season with a 12-6 MVC record, ISU tied with Evansville for second place in the league standings, signifying ISU's highest league finish since also earning second in 2007-08. ISU has now finished second eight times, with the Redbirds earning an NCAA Tournament bid in three of those seasons.
A DOZEN WINS
The Redbirds earned 12 MVC wins for the 13th time in program history while achieving their best league record since finishing 13-5 in 2007-08. Head coach Dan Muller earned his most MVC wins (12), passing his previous high of 11 in 2014-15. ISU has now earned 11 or more MVC wins 17 times out of 34 seasons.
ONE OVER EVERYONE
By beating Southern Illinois (Feb. 24), the Redbirds secured a regular season in which they recorded at least one win over all nine MVC programs. ISU had not accomplished such a feat since 1994-95, when head coach Dan Muller was a freshman. Wichita State was the only other team to defeat everyone once.
THREES FALL
Illinois State averaged six 3-pointers per game to rank seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference at the end of non-conference play. Conversely, in MVC games, ISU led the league, averaging 8.4 trifectas. ISU shot a league-best 36.8 percent from three-point range in MVC games this season compared to 29.7 percent versus non-conference foes. In conference play, sophomore forward Deontae Hawkins ranked second in league three-point percentage, shooting 36-for-82 (43.9 percent) from beyond the arc. Comparatively, in non-conference games, Hawkins shot 16-for-54 (29.6 percent) from three-point range.
PAST 12
Illinois State is 9-3 through its past 12 games, with the Redbirds holding a +7.1 scoring margin and a +2.8 rebounding margin. Junior point guard Paris Lee has led ISU during the 12-game stretch by averaging 12.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists (versus 2.4 turnovers) and 1.8 steals per game.
MOST-IMPROVED
Sophomore forward MiKyle McIntosh was named captain of the Missouri Valley Conference Most-Improved Team (March 2) along with garnering All-MVC Honorable Mention Accolades. McIntosh has played in 30 of 31 games, with 26 starts in 2015-16, compared to starting 17 of 35 games in 2014-15. He ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game as a sophomore, which is a 4.8-point increase from his average of 5.8 points per game as a freshman. McIntosh is averaging 4.8 rebounds per game compared to 4.2 per contest in 2014-15, and he has netted a career-best 25 points twice in 2016.
WHEN THERE'S A WILLS THERE'S A WAY
Junior guard Tony Wills exemplified his defensive prowess in Illinois State's win over Southern Illinois (Feb. 24), primarily matching up with SIU's Anthony Beane (who entered the game averaging 20.0 points per game to rank second in MVC scoring). Wills held Beane to a season-low two points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field. In ISU's first meeting at SIU (Jan. 12), Wills limited Beane to 12 points.
CONSISTENT LEADER
Junior point guard Paris Lee has reached double figure scoring and ranks second on the team in scoring (11.1 points per game). Comparatively, in 2014-15, Lee averaged 6.8 points per game to rank sixth in team scoring. An MVC Honorable Mention Team and All-Defensive Team selection, Lee recently scored a career-high 21 points in the win over Southern Illinois (Feb. 24). He is one steal away from moving into sole possession of second place on the career steals list as he enters Friday's game with 181.
SETTING THE STARTERS
Illinois State has featured the same starting lineup of Paris Lee, Tony Wills, DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, MiKyle McIntosh and Deontae Hawkins in 12 of the past 13 games, earning a 7-4 record when starting.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DeVAUGHN
All-Missouri Valley Conference Second-Team selection senior guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell has scored in double figures in 29 of Illinois State's 31 games this season, and dating back to last season, 35 of the last 38 games. Akoon-Purcell reached double figures in ISU's first 20 games of the season before being held to seven points versus Northern Iowa (Jan. 23). He has recorded 20 or more points four times in 2015-16 and is averaging 14.1 points (seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference) and 4.6 rebounds per contest (16th in the MVC).
CRASHING THE GLASS
After being outrebounded in eight of their first 10 games (going 4-6 with a -4.2 rebounding margin), the Redbirds have outrebounded the opposition in 14 of their past 21 contests (going 14-7 with a +2.5 rebounding margin). ISU is 13-2 when outrebounding its opponent and 4-11 when outrebounded.
IN CONTROL
Illinois State earned its most decisive victory of the season, beating Indiana State, 78-50 (Feb. 17). ISU's 28-point winning margin was its largest of the season, passing the previous high of 16 points versus Houston Baptist (Nov. 21). ISU led by as many as 29 points versus the Sycamores, passing the previous high of 24 points. It was also ISU's most decisive win since beating Drake by 36 points (Jan. 20, 2015).
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