ST. LOUIS – Illinois State University juniors Milik Yarbrough and Phil Fayne have been named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) postseason teams, announced by the Conference office on Tuesday morning. Yarbrough was named to the All-MVC First Team and Newcomer Team, while Fayne earned second team honors.
Yarbrough, a junior from Zion, Illinois, leads the Redbirds in scoring (16.7 ppg), assists (4.8 apg), and is second in rebounding (6.6 rpg). He is the only student-athlete in the country, and is on pace to be just the 11th since 1992-93 to average at least 16.7 points, 4.8 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game in a season. He is also one of three student-athletes in the country to rank inside of the top five of his conference in points, rebounds, and assists.
He has scored over 20 points 12 times, and has six double-doubles on the season. He came two assists away from a triple double in the team's overtime win at Ole Miss on December 16, and set a new career scoring high a game earlier with 30 points at home against current OVC leader Murray State on December 9. Over his last 10 games this season he has dished out at least five assists nine times, while grabbing at least six rebounds in every game during that stretch.
Fayne leads the Redbirds in rebounding (7.1 per game), and is second on the team in scoring (15.3 ppg). His 29 steals are tied for second-most on the team, and his 22 blocked shots are third-best on the ISU team. He has made 162-of-269 shots from the field, for a shooting percentage of .602, which ranks second in the MVC, and 20th in the country.
The Elk Grove, California, native has seven double-doubles this season, including one against Drake on February 21 with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Twice this season he has gone 11-of-12 from the field, which is tied for the 12th-best single-game shooting percentage in the country this season. He has set and tied his career-high of 24 points three times this season, and has reached double-figure scoring in 22 of the 26 games he has played in this season.
The Redbirds are 16-14 this season and a third-place finish in the MVC. The third place finish represents the fifth consecutive season that Illinois State has bettered its preseason poll prediction. ISU faces off against Indiana State in the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament on Friday evening with a scheduled 8:30 p.m. tip-off at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
