Redbirds to Battle Aces in MVC Tournament Opener

ST. LOUIS - The Illinois State Redbirds open play in the MVC Tournament on Thursday evening, when the squad faces off against the Evansville Aces in an 8:30 battle at the Enterprise Center.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (16-15, 9-9 MVC) vs. Evansville Aces (11-20, 5-13 MVC)
When: Thursday, March 7
Tip-Off: 8:30 p.m. (CT)
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Arena: Enterprise Center
TV: MVC TV Network / ESPN+ (regional ESPN+ blackout)
    John Rooney, play-by-play
    Rich Zvosec, analyst
    Tom Ackerman, sideline
Radio: WJBC (FM 93.7 and AM1230) / TuneIn Radio
    Dick Luedke, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst
Live Stats: MVC Live Stats

SETTING THE TABLE

•    Illinois State is 14-1 this season when leading at halftime.
•    The game is the team's first game on a Thursday this season. The last time ISU has played on a Thursday was Feb. 8, 2018 when the Redbirds beat Southern Illinois.
•    Milik Yarbrough is one of seven student-athletes across NCAA Division I this season to have scored at least 520 points, pulled down at least 215 rebounds, and dished out at least 95 assists.
•    Phil Fayne is one of 16 student-athletes this season with at least 30 blocked shots, 30 steals, and are making over half of their shots from the field.
•    Illinois State has had 22 games in the MVC Tournament against opponents they swept in the regular season. The Redbirds are 17-5 in the third game of those series, including winning each of the last 10 occurrences - four of those last 10 coming against Evansville.
•    With three more assists this season, Yarbrough will become one of just 11 student-athletes since 1992-93 to have multiple seasons of at least 525 points, 210 rebounds, and 100 assists.
•    With Yarbrough and Fayne each reaching the 1,000 career point mark during this season, it marks the eighth time in program history that the Redbirds have had multiple student-athletes reach the plateau in the same season.
•    Yarbrough's career point total of 1,052 is the second-most points scored in a student-athletes first two seasons with the Redbirds, trailing only Doug Collins' first two year total of 1,590.
•    Fayne is one of 21 student-athletes to have accrued at least 20 steals and 20 blocked shots in each of the last three seasons.
•    Illinois State is 24-8 over the last three seasons in games that have a margin within five points or less at the end of regulation.
•    Yarbrough leads Illinois State in points, rebounds, and assists. He is on pace to be the first Redbird since Tarise Bryson (1999-00) to accomplish the feat, and just the seventh MVC student-athlete do it over the last 10 years.
•    Illinois State has won its last seven overtime games, which is the third-longest active overtime win streak in the country. 
•    Fayne has scored 1,260 career points which puts him 25th in the program record book. He needs just nine points to climb four places into 21st overall, including passing former teammate Paris Lee (21st with 1,268 points).

SCOUTING THE ACES

Evansville snapped a seven-game losing skid in the regular-season finale with a 65-63 win at Valparaiso. The Aces were led by Marty Hill who scored a game-high 21 points as K.J. Riley scored 16, Noah Frederking 12, and John Hall a dozen. Riley pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team, while also leading the team with four assists.

The Aces have won just two of its last 13 games - with both wins coming against Valparaiso. For the season, the team has been paced by Riley, who averages 13.5 points, while Hill pours in 11.3 per game. Hall is near a double-figure scoring average at 9.0 points per game. Graduate transfer Shea Feehan had been averaging 9.8 points per game, but was recently dismissed from the squad.

Hall has pulled down a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game, as the Aces get out-rebounded by four boards per game on the season. Riley has dished out 93 assists, with freshman guard Shamar Givance standing second on the team with 74 helpers. Riley and Hill each have 37 steals to lead the team, while Dainius Chatkevicius has a team-best 28 blocked shots in 28 games played. 
 

ELITE COMPANY

This season, Milik Yarbrough has scored 521 points, pulled down 216 rebounds, and dished out 97 assists. He is one of seven student-athletes in the country to have scored at least 520 points, pulled down at least 215 rebounds, and have given out at least 95 assists.
 

30-30-.500

Phil Fayne stands as one of 16 student-athletes in the country to have accumulated at least 30 steals and 30 blocks, while shooting over .500 from the field.
 

FIRST TEAM ALL-MVC

Illinois State's Phil Fayne became the 12th student-athlete in program history to be named First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference, announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.
 

SECOND TEAM ALL-MVC

2018-19 marks the fifth straight season that Illinois State has had a Second Team All-MVC honoree, as Milik Yarbrough earned the honor, announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.
 

CLEAN SWEEPS

Illinois State has faced off against 22 opponents in the MVC Tournament after sweeping a team during the regular season. In 17 of those games, including the last 10 straight, Illinois State has emerged the victor.
 

MULTIPLE BIG SEASONS

Since 1992-93 there have been 119 college student-athletes to record season-long numbers of at least 525 points, 210 rebounds, and 100 assists. With three more assists, Milik Yarbrough will be just the 11th student-athlete since 1992-93 to have multiple seasons with those numbers. The others on the list include DeAndre Bembry (St. Joseph's), Bogdan Bliznyuk (Eastern Washington), Jamont Gordon (Mississippi State), Jerald Honeycutt (Tulane), Lester Hudson (UT-Martin), Sean Lampley (Cal), Jahad Thomas (UMass-Lowell), Evan Turner (Ohio State), Denzel Valentine (Michigan State), and Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin).
 

GETTING OFFENSIVE WITH THE REBOUNDS

This season Phil Fayne leads the Missouri Valley Conference in offensive rebounds with 92 (3.0 per game). He is 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.