ISU Takes to Road to Battle UNI

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds will look to bounce back from a second half-court buzzer-beating loss this calendar year, as ISU travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to face off against the UNI Panthers.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (14-11, 7-5 MVC) vs. UNI Panthers (10-15, 5-7 MVC)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 13
Tip-Off: 7 p.m.
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Arena: McLeod Center
TV: The Valley on ESPN (ESPN+)
    Brad Wells, play-by-play
    Eric Braley, analyst
Radio: WJBC (FM 93.7 and AM1230) / TuneIn Radio
    Dick Luedke, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst
Live Stats: UNI Live Stats 

SETTING THE TABLE

•    Illinois State is 13-1 this season when going into halftime with a lead, and 6-1 in games in which it shoots over 50 percent from the field.
•    The duo of Milik Yarbrough and Zach Copeland combine to average 6.8 assists per game. That total is the highest pairing assist average in the conference. Additionally, the duo of Yarbrough and Phil Fayne combine to average 32.1 points (second-highest pair total) and 13.2 rebounds (third-highest pair total).
•    Yarbrough leads Illinois State in points, rebounds, and assists, and looks to become the first Redbird since Tarise Bryson (1999-00) to accomplish the feat.
•    Fayne is one of 17 student-athletes to have totaled at least 20 steals and 20 blocked shots in each of the last three seasons.
•    Under head coach Dan Muller, Illinois State is 33-17 in the month of February.
•    ISU is 24-8 over the last three seasons in games that have the score within five points at the end of regulation.
•    Fayne's 57.5 career field goal percentage is the 48th-highest active career field goal percentage in the NCAA and is the fourth-highest in program history.
•    Four active Redbird student-athletes have career double-figure averages against UNI including Yarbrough (22.7), Fayne (13.3), Matt Chastain (12.0), and Keyshawn Evans (11.6). Additionally, ISU head coach Dan Muller averaged 12.7 in 10 career meetings against the Panthers during his time as a student-athlete.
•    Illinois State's 136-91 record during Dan Muller's tenure gives the Redbirds the most wins and highest win percentage in the state of Illinois during that span.
•    Yarbrough was named to the mid-season Lou Henson Award watch list.
•    Fayne's 1,152 career points put him 33rd in school history in career scoring. Yarbrough is near the 1,000-point mark with 953 career points.
•    This four-year span is four victories away from moving into the top-10 winningest-such span in program history.
•    Dan Muller is one of 30 head coaches in NCAA Division I basketball to be coaching at his alma mater, and of that group, he has the ninth-most career wins at his school. 
•    Illinois State has a current seven-game overtime win streak, which is tied for the second-longest such active win streak in the NCAA.
•    Keyshawn Evans'189 career three-point makes are sixth-most in school history, and he needs 15 more to tie current ISU head coach Dan Muller on that list.
•    Illinois State is 20-9 all-time on February 13.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

UNI comes into the game mired in a stretch in which it has won just twice over the last seven games, including a six-point loss at Drake on Saturday afternoon.

In the loss to their in-state rival, UNI was led by freshman AJ Green who scored 19 points with five assists, while Wyatt Lohaus scored 16 including making both of his long-range attempts. Spencer Haldeman scored a dozen points, as Tywhon Pickford added 10. Trae Berhow pulled down a team-high six rebounds with eight points.

For the season, Green is the only UNI player to average double-figure points at 15.1 per game, while five others: Lohaus (9.6), Luke McDonnell (7.8), Berhow (7.8), Isaiah Brown (7.5), and Haldeman (7.0) average at least seven points per game. Berhow has pulled down a team-best 150 rebounds in the team's 25 games, while Green leads the team with 55 assists.

PAIRING UP

The top pair of players for Illinois State rank near the top in the MVC among other schools' top two in points, rebounds, and assists. In fact, Illinois State's top pair rank in the top three in each of the three categories, including leading the team in assists. Milik Yarbrough and Phil Fayne combine to average 32.1 points per game, which is the second-highest top-two average in the conference, while the same pair average 13.2 rebounds per game – which is third-best. Yarbrough and Zach Copeland combine to average 6.8 assists per game, the top combined pairs average.

LEADING THE SCORERS

This season through 25 games, Illinois State senior Milik Yarbrough leads the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring. He is putting himself on pace to become just the third player in program history to lead the MVC in scoring.

LEADING IN POINTS, REBOUNDS, AND ASSISTS

Milik Yarbrough currently leads the Illinois State Redbirds in points, rebounds, and assists. His current trajectory would put him as one of just seven MVC student-athletes in the last 10 seasons to lead their teams in each of the respective categories. The others on that list are Alize Johnson (Missouri State, 2017-18), Jeremy Morgan (UNI, 2016-17), Seth Tuttle (UNI, 2014-15), Desmar Jackson (Southern Illinois, 2013-14), Anthony Downing (Missouri State, 2012-13), Mamadou Seck (Southern Illinois, 2011-12).

He would also be the first Illinois State student-athlete to lead the team in all three categories since Tarise Bryson during the 1999-00 season when Bryson scored 578 points, pulled down 124 rebounds and dished out 105 assists.

20-20 VISION

This season Phil Fayne has 33 blocked shots and 24 steals and is one of 97 student-athletes to have at least 20 in both categories this season. Of that group, Fayne is one of just 17 student-athletes that have accomplished the 20-steal and 20-block plateau in each of the last three seasons. The others include: Nicholas Baer (Iowa), Malik Benlevi (Georgia State), AJ Brodeur (Penn), Andrew Eudy (Campbell),  Tarkus Ferguson (UIC), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Kevarrius Hayes (Florida), Cameron Jackson (Wofford), Alex Long (Norfolk State), Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky), Zane Najdawi (Citadel), Ed Polite, Jr. (Radford), Nate Renfro (San Francisco), Tahjai Teague (Ball State), Matissa Thybulle (Washington), and Grant Williams (Tennessee).