Illinois State Closes Home Season Against Bears

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State men's basketball team closes out its home season on Wednesday evening as the team will be wearing red in it's annual "Red Out". Fans are encouraged to wear red as the Redbirds host ISU alumnus Dana Ford and the Missouri State Bears.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (15-14, 8-8 MVC) vs. Missouri State Bears (16-13, 10-6 MVC)
When:
Tip-Off: 6 p.m. (CT)
Location: Normal, Ill.
Arena: Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena
TV: MVC TV Network (ESPN+ blackout in network footprint)
    Scott Warmann, play-by-play
    Rich Zvosec, analyst
Radio: WJBC (FM 93.7 and AM1230) / TuneIn Radio
    Dick Luedke, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst
Live Stats: Illinois State Live Stats

SETTING THE TABLE

•    Milik Yarbrough is one of just nine student-athletes in the country this season to have scored at least 475 points, pulled down at least 200 rebounds, and given out at least 90 assists.
•    Phil Fayne is one of 10 student-athletes who have at least 30 blocked shots, 30 steals, and are making over half of their shots from the field.
•    Illinois State is 14-1 when leading at halftime.
•    Fayne leads the MVC in offensive rebounding (89, 3.1 per game), and is nearly on pace to become the 13th MVC student-athlete since 1996-97 to pull down 100 offensive boards in a season.
•    When Yarbrough scored his 1,000th career point on a free throw against Drake, he became the 45th member of the program's exclusive club. He also gave Illinois State multiple 1,000-point scorers in a season, just the eighth time in program history that multiple student-athletes reached the milestone in the same season.
•    Illinois State has out-rebounded its last five opponents, which stands as the fifth-longest such streak in the past decade for a Redbird squad.
•    Yarbrough is the only student-athlete in the MVC to lead his team in points, rebounds, and assists. If he finishes on top of all three categories, he will be the first Redbird student-athlete since Tarise Bryson (1999-00) to accomplish the feat.
•    Fayne is one of 19 student-athletes in NCAA Division I to have recorded at least 20 steals and 20 blocked shots in each of the last three seasons.
•    Illinois State is 11-4 at home this season, and 87-24 at home under head coach Dan Muller. According to KenPom's home court advantage calculations, Redbird Arena is the sixth-toughest place to play in NCAA Division I basketball.
•    Illinois State is 137-94 under head coach Dan Muller, which is the most wins and highest winning percentage in that stretch in the state of Illinois.
•    Over the past three seasons, Illinois State is 24-8 in games that are decided by five or fewer points at the end of regulation.
•    Illinois State has won its last seven overtime games, which stands as the third-longest active overtime win streak in the country, trailing only Marquette (10 wins) and Harvard (8). It also stands as the second-longest overtime win streak in program history.
•    Keyshawn Evans ranks sixth in ISU basketball history in career three-pointers made (195) and attempted (511).
•    Illinois State is 20-6 all-time on February 27.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Missouri State comes into Redbird Arena having won eight of its last 10 games, including a 67-61 win at home against Indiana State on Saturday.

In the win over the Sycamores, Tulio Da Silva had a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double, leading four scorers in double-figures in the contest. Josh Webster scored 14 points while Keandre Cook and Ryan Kreklow each scored 11. Webster dished out a game-high six assists while Kreklow grabbed a trio of steals.

For the season the team is led by Da Silva who averages 14.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Cook averages 13.0 points while Jarred Dixon also averages in double-figures with a 12.8 point per game average. 

Da Silva pulls down a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game, with Webster dishing out 150 assists against just 50 turnovers. Webster also leads the team with 34 steals and 23 blocked shots.

ELITE COMPANY

This season, Milik Yarbrough has scored 481 points, pulled down 203 rebounds, and dished out 94 assists. He is one of nine student-athletes in the country to have scored at least 475 points, pulled down at least 200 rebounds, and have given out at least 90 assists.
 

30-30-.500

Phil Fayne stands as one of 10 student-athletes in the country to have accumulated at least 30 steals and 30 blocks, while shooting over .500 from the field.
 

GETTING OFFENSIVE WITH THE REBOUNDS

This season Phil Fayne leads the Missouri Valley Conference in offensive rebounds with 89 (3.1 per game). If he keeps up his current average of 3.1 per game through the three guaranteed games remaining on this season's schedule, he will be within distance of becoming the 13th MVC student-athlete since 1996-97 to pull down 100 offensive rebounds in a single season. 

MULTIPLE OF 1,000

With his 1,000th career point, which came on Feb. 24 against Drake, ISU senior Milik Yarbrough became the 45th member of the program's 1,000-point club. When he joined the club, he was the second Redbird this season to accomplish the feat, joining Phil Fayne who made the list earlier this year. Additionally, it is the eighth time in program history that Illinois State has had multiple 1,000-point scoring marks achieve in the same season. 

REBOUNDING STREAK

The Illinois State Redbirds have out-rebounded its last five opponents. Over the last 10 seasons, that stands as the fifth-longest such streak by a Redbird squad. The most consecutive games out-rebounding opponent over the last decade came during the 2008-09 season when the squad opened the season with eight consecutive games where it had more rebounds than its foes.