Illinois State Looks to Bounce Back Against Eagles

NORMAL, Ill. - After the team's first true road game of the 2019-20 season, Illinois State returns home to take on the Eagles of Morehead State University in a 6 p.m. tip-off at Redbird Arena.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (3-5) vs. Morehead State Eagles (5-4)
When: Saturday, December 7
Tip-Off: 6 p.m.
Location: Normal, Ill.
Arena: Redbird Arena
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
    Kurt Pegler, play-by-play
    Bob Morris, analyst
Radio: WJBC (93.7 FM) / TuneIn Radio
    Greg Halbleib, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst

QUICK HITTERS

• Illinois State and Morehead State have met eight times prior, with the Redbirds holding a strong 7-1 lead in the all-time series.
• Illinois State went 15-for-15 at the charity stripe against Illinois Springfield, which is the third-best free throw shooting game in program history.
• Additionally to being the third-best free throw shooting game in program history, the 15-for-15 effort is the second-best single-game shooting performance in NCAA Division I this season.
• Through eight games, Illinois State has had nine different players reach double-figure scoring, more than the team had through the entirety of last season.
• Illinois State scored 51 points from its bench in a narrow loss to UCF, which is the highest reserve total in head coach Dan Muller's tenure with the squad.
• The Redbirds face off against seven opponents picked in the top four of their conference pre-season polls, including Belmont (1st), Western Kentucky (1), Northern Kentucky (2), UTSA (2), Grand Canyon (2), UIC (3), and Cincinnati (3).
• Illinois State sophomore Dedric Boyd scored 22 points off of the bench against UCF on Nov. 17, which is the fifth-most points by an individual off the bench in Muller's tenure.
• Illinois State is 103-56 all-time against schools within the current iteration of the Ohio Valley Conference, while head coach Dan Muller is 9-4 against the conference.
• According to the statistical website KenPom.com that predicts home court advantages based off of an algorithm, Redbird Arena is the fifth-toughest place to play in the country with a home court advantage of 4.4.
• Illinois State has won its last seven overtime games, the third-longest such streak in the country behind Marquette (10) and Harvard (8).
• Since Dan Muller has taken over as head coach, Illinois State has the best record within the state of Illinois (142-101).
• Under head coach Dan Muller, Illinois State is 47-29 all-time in games that are within five points at the end of regulation. ISU is 26-11 in such games over the last four seasons.
• Five times in the last six seasons Illinois State has bettered its preseason MVC poll prediction.
 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Morehead State comes into the game after snapping a four-game losing skid with a 56-51 win over IUPUI at home on Wednesday evening. 

In the game, IUPUI scored the first six points of the game, leading 6-0 3:20 into the contest, and scored just six point points over the rest of the half, as the Eagles held on late for the five-point non-conference win. Jordan Walker scored a team-high 12 points, as Justin Thomas added 10 in the win. LJ Bryan pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the team, as Walker also gave out a team-high six assists.

This season Walker is the team leader in scoring for Morehead State, averaging 13.9 points per game, and is second on the team with 27 assists and 13 steals. James Baker (11.6) and Thomas (10.0) also average in double figures in the scoring column. 

Tyzhaun Claude (6.6) and Justin Thomas (6.2) are at the top of the team's leader board in rebounding, while Thomas' 41 assists are a team-high, while he also leads the team with 29 steals. 

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT

Coming into Illinois State's game against UIS, the Redbirds had made just 61.9 percent of its free throws on the season, a total that ranked 314th of 350 teams in NCAA Division I. Against the Prairie Stars, the Redbirds went a perfect 15-of-15 at the charity stripe, the second-best single-game free throw shooting day in the country. Over the course of one game Illinois State's percentage rose to 69.2 percent, and the team climbed to 191st in the country.

PERFECT AT THE LINE

Illinois State's 15-for-15 effort at the free throw line is the third-best single-game shooting performance in program history. Below are the five best single-game free throw shooting games in the history of the program.

NEAR THE TOP OF THE NCAA

When Illinois State converted on all 15 of its free throw tries against UIS, it climbed into second this season in the NCAA national rankings for single-game free throw makes, behind only Harvard's perfect 22-of-22 effort against Texas A&M a day earlier. Below are the top-eight single-game free throw performances in the NCAA this season.

PRESEASON STRONG

Of Illinois State's 11 non-conference opponents, seven were picked to finish inside of their top four of the conference preseason polls, including Belmont and Western Kentucky who were each picked to win their conferences. Below is a list of where the ISU opponents were picked to finish this season.