SAN ANTONIO – Despite a season-high 20 points from Keith Fisher III, the Illinois State Redbirds fell in the 2019-20 non-conference finale by an 89-70 final score to the UTSA Roadrunners.
How it Happened
The Redbirds and Roadrunners went back-and-forth for the first four minutes of the game, with the hosts holding onto a one-point, 8-7 lead; however, UTSA used a 7-0 run to push the advantage to eight points. After ISU closed back to within two on a Jaycee Hillsman paint jump shot, the hosts used another 7-0 run, which was followed closely with a 13-0 run to stretch the UTSA lead to 20. The lead grew to as many as 24 in the half before ISU closed the opening half with a 10-3 run to close the gap to 17 heading into the halftime break.
The Redbirds closed the gap to as few as 13 points in the second half but could not overcome the early deficit in the 19-point loss.
Key Moment
UTSA's back-to-back runs of 7-0 and 13-0 took a two-point Redbird deficit and stretched it to 20 over a three-minute span.
Inside the Box Score
- Fisher scored a season-high 20 points, making 7-of-9 shots from the field and 6-of-10 on his free throw tries. He also pulled down seven rebounds and added two steals and a blocked shot.
- Zach Copeland scored 16 points, hitting on 5-of-12 shots from the field and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
- Antonio Reeves added a dozen points in the game off of the bench, making 5-of-13 from the field with a pair of rebounds and a steal.
- Abdou Ndiaye scored a career-high seven points while adding six rebounds, a steal and two blocked shots.
- Hillsman missed double-digits by just one point, scoring nine points on 4-of-8 shooting.
- Illinois State out-scored UTSA 36-to-34 on points in the paint, and the bench out-scored the Roadrunners' 31-to-22.
Stat of the Game
UTSA's Jhivan Jackson scored 41 points for the hosts, the first time an opposing player has reached the 40-point plateau since Sterling Gibbs accomplished the feat with Seton Hall during the championship game of the 2014 Paradise Jam.
What's Next
The Redbirds return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 31 when the team plays host to the UNI Panthers in a 2 p.m. tip-off at Redbird Arena.
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