NORMAL, Ill. – It was an up and down game on Tuesday evening for the Illinois State Redbirds, as both Illinois State and Missouri State held 11-point leads at one point in the contest, with the Bears pushing ahead late in a 67-63 Missouri Valley Conference win.
How it Happened
Illinois State came out firing on all cylinders, led by Zach Copeland who scored eight of the team's first 10 points, as the Redbird lead grew to as many as 11 following a Keith Fisher III put-back, giving ISU the 18-7 advantage with 9:20 to play in the opening half. Missouri State fought back, using a stretch of three minutes in which the team committed five turnovers and attempted no shots, as the Bears were able to score 12 straight points to take a one-point lead, and the visitors pushed the lead to five at 30-25 heading into the locker room at halftime.
A Jaycee Hillsman fast-break lay-up started the scoring in the second half, before Missouri State used a 10-2 run to push its lead to 11. The Redbirds fought back and chipped away at the deficit and used a 7-0 run culminating with an Antonio Reeves fast-break lay-up to put the Redbirds back ahead at 56-55. The lead remained after a pair of Ricky Torres free throws; however, back-to-back Missouri State three-pointers put the visitors ahead for good. The Redbirds closed back to within three points but could not overcome the full deficit in the four-point loss.
Key Moment
Holding onto a one-point lead, the Redbirds picked up a defensive rebound but were called for an offensive foul seconds later. Missouri State took the opportunity and made back-to-back three-pointers to put the game out of reach for the Redbirds.
Inside the Box Score
- Reeves scored a team-high 16 points for the Redbirds, making 7-of-11 shots from the field and 2-of-5 from long range. The 16 points marked a new career-high for the Freshman.
- Copeland scored 15 points, hitting 3-of-8 from long range and pulling down four rebounds.
- Torres scored 12 points including making 2-of-4 of his shots from beyond the arc while pulling down a season-high five rebounds while dishing out a season-high seven assists against just one turnover.
- Hillsman scored 11 points with a team- and season-high eight rebounds and added a steal with an assist.
- Fisher III scored eight points with five rebounds, converting on 3-of-6 shots from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line.
- Illinois State out-rebounded Missouri State 35-to-34 in the game.
Stat of the Game
With Reeves leading the team in scoring, Illinois State has now had eight different players lead the team in scoring for a game, while the next highest squad in the conference has had six different players lead the team in scoring.
What's Next
Illinois State takes to the road for two consecutive games, traveling to Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 11 for a 1 p.m. tip-off at the Hulman Center, before facing off at Drake on Jan. 16.
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