NORMAL, Ill. - After a successful tournament which saw Illinois State go 2-1 over the three days of the tournament, the Redbirds return home on Saturday afternoon against the Lindenwood Lions on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (4-2) vs. Lindenwood Lions (5-3)
When: Saturday, Nov. 24
Tip-Off: 2 p.m.
Location: Normal, Illinois
Arena: Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena
TV: ESPN3
Kurt Pegler, play-by-play
Bob Morris, analyst
Radio: Illinois State Radio Network / TuneIn Radio
Dick Luedke, play-by-play
Mike Matthews, analyst
Live Stats: Illinois State Statbroadcast
SETTING THE TABLE
• The game is a regular-counting game for the Redbirds, but is an exhibition for Lindenwood.
• The Redbirds are 78-20 at home during head coach Dan Muller's tenure at Illinois state.
• Illinois State has six games this season being played on Tuesday, which is the second-highest such total in program history. Only the 1936-37 team's seven games on Tuesday is higher.
• ISU head coach Dan Muller is in fourth in the school's record books in career wins, just ahead of Kevin Stallings. Stallings was Muller's coach during both his playing career, and was the head coach while he was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.
• ISU's 126-82 record over the last six years is the best record in the state of Illinois during that span.
• The Redbirds have had back-to-back games in which they committed single-digit turnovers, the fourth-such stretch for Illinois State under head coach Dan Muller.
• Just seven of 31 total scheduled games feature teams that are currently below .500 on the season, with five of those standing just one game under .500 this year.
• Dan Muller's 126 victories are the ninth most among active head coaches who are currently coaching at their alma maters.
• Illinois State is one of three schools in the country to have two assistant coaches who had won National Titles as student-athletes, joining Duke and Washington.
• ISU's Milik Yarbrough pulled down a career high 16 rebounds against Akron on Tuesday afternoon, tied for the 24th-most in a game in Division I this season.
• Illinois State returns 88.6 percent of its scoring for the 2018-19 season, the 16th-most points returning in NCAA Division I.
• Each of the last five seasons, Illinois State has out-performed its preseason MVC preseason predictions, including last season when the team was picked to finish fourth and ended third.
• This season Illinois State is playing in eight games in the month of November, tied for the most games in November in program history. As such, ISU's five December games are tied for the fewest in the month since the 1942-43 season in which the Redbirds played four games in the calendar month.
• Of ISU's first four games, three had come against coaches in the first season at their respective schools.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Lindenwood comes into the game having won its last three games and play on the Friday before the Saturday afternoon game.
In their last game, an 86-69 win on Nov. 19 over Missouri Baptist, the Lions got 18 points from Brad Newman, while Chandler Diekvoss scored 14, Diego Womack 12, and Chris King 11. Womack pulled down 13 rebounds for the double-double, as Adam Pohlman dished out 13 assists with no turnovers.
For the season the team is led by Newman, who averages 17.5 points and shoots 36 percent from long range. Diekvoss averages 14.6 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game, as Womack is second on the team by pulling down 6.9 boards per game.
Newman has a team-best four blocked shots, while Adam Pohlman, who leads the team with 45 assists, has grabbed a team-bst 11 steals on the year.
PAIR OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Illinois State is one of three schools in the country (along with Duke and Washington) to have multiple coaches on its staff to have won national titles as student-athletes. Both Brian Reese (North Carolina, 1993) and Chris Duhon (Duke, 2001) played in their respective seasons' National Championship games.
NOT TURNING IT OVER
Over the last two games of Illinois State's Cayman Islands Classic games, the Redbirds committed single-digit turnovers. The back-to-back single-digit total ties the longest-such streak during Dan Muller's tenure. The last time Illinois State had three consecutive single-digit turnover games was during the 2012 MVC Tournament.
GOING UP ON A TUESDAY
This season Illinois State has six games that are played on Tuesdays, the second-most Tuesday games in a season in program history. The record for Tuesday games in a season came during the 1936-37 season, where the team played in seven Tuesday games. Below are the top-five most Tuesday games in a season in school history.
IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS
Over the course of the program's history, Illinois State has taken part in numerous in-season tournaments, including playing in one in each of the last nine seasons. Over the last ten seasons, the Redbirds have a 28-9 record during the in-season tournaments.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena has turned itself into one of the most difficult places to play in the Missouri Valley Conference. During head coach Dan Muller's tenure, the Redbirds have a 76-20 record at home, including a 16-1 mark during the 2016-17 season and a 2-0 mark in 2017-18.
