Redbirds Open 2020 With Road Trip to Carbondale

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds kick off the new calendar year with an MVC-opening road trip to face off against the Southern Illinois Salukis on Saturday afternoon.

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (6-7, 1-0 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (6-8, 0-1 MVC)
When: Saturday, Jan. 4
Tip-Off: 3 p.m.
Location: Carbondale, Illinois
Arena: Banterra Center
TV: ESPN3
    Connor Onion, play-by-play
    Mike Trude, analyst
Radio: WJBC 93.7 & 1230 AM
    Dick Luedke, play-by-play
    Mike Matthews, analyst

QUICK HITTERS

• Against UNI, Illinois State rallied from a 15-point deficit, which is tied for the 11th-largest deficit overcome in a game in school history.
• The Illinois State starting group of DJ Horne, Zach Copeland, Ricky Torres, Keith Fisher II and Rey Idowu have a combined jersey total of 23, which is the lowest-such total in head coach Dan Muller's tenure.
• While on defense, Illinois State holds the opposing offense to possessions of 18.9 seconds, which is the fifth-longest such total in NCAA Division I basketball this season, according to KenPom.
• Through 12 games, Illinois State has had nine different players reach double-figure scoring, more than the team had through the entirety of last season. The team also has six different players who have led the team in scoring for at least one game this year, and four have scored at least 20 points.
• Illinois State's 56 points in the second half against UNI are tied for the second-most in a second half in head coach Dan Muller's tenure with the Redbirds.
• With his 22 points against UNI, freshman DJ Horne set a Dan Muller-era record for points in a game by a freshman.
• 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.
• Against Morehead State, the Redbirds did not allow a MSU player to reach double-figures in the scoring column, the first time that the ISU has held a team without a double-figure scorer in over 10 years.
• According to the statistical website KenPom.com that predicts home court advantages based off of an algorithm, Redbird Arena is the fourth-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 (9).
• Since Dan Muller has taken over as head coach, Illinois State has the best record within the state of Illinois (145-103).
• Under head coach Dan Muller, Illinois State is 48-29 all-time in games that are within five points at the end of regulation. ISU is 27-11 in such games over the last four seasons.

SCOUTING THE SALUKIS

Southern Illinois comes into the second MVC game of the season after dropping the conference opener to the Indiana State Sycamores by a 68-56 final score.

In the loss to the Sycamores, Barret Benson scored a team-high 14 points, while Marcus Domask scored 13 in the losing effort. Harwin Francois and Lance Jones scored nine and eight points, respectively in the loss. Benson pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while Domask, Ronnie Suggs, and Jones each dished out a pair of assists.

This season Aaron Cook leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points per game but has not played since Nov. 19. Marcus Domask is one of just two players who have played and started in all 14 games for the Salukis, and averages 14.1 points per game, is second on the team with 4.7 rebounds per contest, and is tied for the team lead with 40 assists.

Benson averages 10.3 points and a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game, making 58 percent of his shots from the field while also leading the team with 11 blocked shots. Eric McGill, who also has 40 assists, averages 9.0 points per game.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

Or do call it a comeback, we're just taking the advice of LL Cool J. On Dec. 31, Illinois State rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to secure a 76-70 win over UNI. It was the 11th-best comeback in program history. Below are the 11 largest comebacks in a game in Illinois State basketball history.

In the same game against UNI, Illinois State trailed by 10 at the halftime break, which is tied for the 10th-largest halftime deficit overcome.

GETTING DEFENSIVE AT LENGTH

This season Illinois State opponents average an offensive possession length of 18.9 seconds. That time is the fifth-longest defensive possession length in the country, behind only Navy (19.6 seconds per possession), Wofford (18.9), Washington (18.9), and Merrimack (18.9). Below are the 10 longest defensive possession lengths in the country according to the basketball stat analysis site KenPom.

FRESHMAN SCORING

This season Illinois State has a pair of freshman in Antonio Reeves and DJ Horne have climbed into the top-10 in the Dan Muller-coached era for single-game points for a freshman. Reeves' 15 points at TCU stands tied for the sixth-best single-game scoring total under head coach Dan Muller, while Horne's 14 points against Morehead State are one of nine times that a freshman has scored that many points in a game under Muller.