NORMAL, Ill.  – The Illinois State Redbirds out-scored Truman State 48-29 in the second half to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit in a 74-68 win over the Bulldogs.
Zach Copeland scored a team-high 18 points, making 6-of-13 shots from the field while adding five rebounds and three assists. Jaycee Hillsman had a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double in his first game in a Redbird uniform, with Dedric Boyd scoring 10 points.
Three others – Abdou Ndiaye, Antonio Reeves, and Rey Idowu – scored at least eight points, with Idowu pulling down 10 rebounds. Copeland and freshman DJ Horne each dished out three assists in the win.
Illinois State got early baskets from Copeland and Horne to lead 5-2 before the visitors pushed ahead and led by as many as 14 in the half and 13 at the halftime break.
The Bulldogs scored first in the second half, pushing the visitors' lead to its high mark at 15 points less than a minute into the half before ISU ran off an 11-2 run to close the gap to four on a jumper by Lijah Donnelly with 14 minutes left in the game. Illinois State kept chipping away at the deficit and taking its first lead since the early portions of the game with a Reeves three-point play. Truman State took its lead back briefly late in the game with 2:06 to play before the hosts ran off nine straight points down the stretch, closing the game with its six-point win.
The Redbirds out-rebounded the Bulldogs 47-to-31 in the game, as Illinois State made 28-of-64 of its shots from the field in the game, including making 18-of-31 shots (58.1 percent) in the second half.
Truman State's Brodric Thomas scored 21 points in the losing effort, while Scott Turner added 14 points.
The Redbirds return to action in two weeks on Wednesday, Nov. 6, when the team hosts the Belmont Bruins in the 2019-20 regular-season opener for both squads.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
