Redbirds Travel to Battle Bears of Missouri State

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State will look to rebound from its Tuesday evening loss as the Redbirds travel to Springfield, Missouri, to take on the Missouri State Bears in a 3 p.m. tip-off at JQH Arena.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (14-10, 7-4 MVC) vs. Missouri State Bears (12-12, 5-5 MVC)
When: Sunday, Feb. 10
Tip-Off: 3 p.m.
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Arena: JQH Arena
TV: ESPN3
    Scot Warman, play-by-play
    Danan Hughes, analyst
Radio: WJBC (FM 93.7) / TuneIn Radio
    Dick Luedke, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst
Live Stats: Missouri State Live Stats 

SETTING THE TABLE

•    Illinois State is 13-0 this season when leading at halftime, and 2-0 on games played on a Sunday.
•    Illinois State's top pairs in scoring and rebounding (Milik Yarbrough and Phil Fayne), and assists (Yarbrough and Zach Copeland) rank among the top three pairs in the MVC in all three categories. 
•    Missouri State head coach Dana Ford is incredibly familiar with Illinois State, having played four seasons with the Redbirds and later spending two seasons on the coaching staff with current ISU head coach Dan Muller as associate head coach.
•    Milik Yarbrough is putting himself in position to be just the third player in program history to lead the MVC in scoring. 
•    Yarbrough is currently leading the Redbirds in points, rebounds and assists. If he finishes the season as the leader in all three categories, he will be just the seventh student-athlete in the MVC over the last 10 years to accomplish the feat, and the first Redbird since Tarise Bryson during the 1999-00 season. 
•    Phil Fayne is one of just 14 student-athletes in the country to have accumulated at least 20 steals and 20 blocked shots in each of the last three seasons. 
•    The Redbirds are 45-25 in Dan Muller's tenure in games that are within five points at the end of regulation, including a 24-7 mark in those such games over the last three seasons.
•    Illinois State's 136-90 record under Dan Muller is the best record in the state of Illinois during that span. 
•    Phil Fayne reached the 1,000 career point plateau on Jan. 5, with two teammates (Milik Yarbrough and Keyshawn Evans) closing in on the milestone. 
•    Yarbrough has been named as one of 50 student-athletes announced to the mid-season Lou Henson Award watch list.
•    Yarbrough is one of six student-athletes in the country to rank in the top five of his conference in points, rebounds, and assists. 
•    Dan Muller is one of 30 head coaches in the country that are coaching at their alma mater and ranks ninth on that list in career victories.
•    Illinois State's current seven-game overtime win streak is the second-longest active such win streak in the country.
•    Keyshawn Evans' 189 career three-pointers rank sixth in school history in the category, while fifth on the list is Dan Muller who has 204 career three-pointers made. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Missouri State has won four of its last four games to even the Bears' record at 12-12 on the season, including a most recent 65-59 win over Southern Illinois.

In the win over the Salukis four players reached double-figure scoring, led by Jarred Dixon's 19 points. Josh Webster and Keandre Cook each scored 12 points, while Tulio Da Silva added 11. Ryan Kreklow scored seven points with a team-high nine rebounds.

For the season Da Silva leads the Bears with a 14.6 point per game average with Cook and Dixon close behind with scoring averages of 13.6 and 13.0, respectively. Da Silva also leads the team with 133 rebounds, while Webster has dished out 124 assists on the year against just 39 turnovers.

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 in each category rank in the top three in each of the three, including tied for the lead in assists. Milik Yarbrough and Phil Fayne combine to average 31.9 points per game, which is the second-highest top-two average in the conference, while the same pair average 13.3 rebounds per game – also second-best. Yarbrough and Zach Copeland combine to average 6.8 assists per game, tied for second in the league.

FAMILIAR WITH THE 'BIRDS

Current Missouri State head coach Dana Ford has a strong familiarity with Illinois State. He is a 2006 alumnus of Illinois State and a four-year letterwinner, playing one season under Tom Richardson and three seasons under current Loyola head coach Porter Moser. He came back to Illinois State and served as associate head coach under current head coach Dan Muller before taking the head coaching job at Tennessee State.

LEADING THE SCORERS

This season through 24 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 22 steals, and is one of 79 student-athletes to have at least 20 in both categories this season. Of that group, Fayne is one of just 14 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), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Kevarrius Hayes (Florida), Cameron Jackson (Wofford), 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).

CLOSING STRONG

In his six-plus seasons as head coach, Dan Muller's squads have closed the regular season strong. Over the last 12 games of the previous six seasons, the Redbirds have a combined 50-26 record, including an 11-1 mark in 2016-17.