NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State got a near-double-double effort from Dusan Mahorcic, along with 16 points and five assists from DJ Horne; however, it was not enough, as the Indiana State Sycamores took the opening game of a two-game set with the Redbirds by a 73-65 final score at Redbird Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Horne finished the game by making half of his dozen shots from the field, and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc for his 16 points. He dished out a game-high five assists, while adding three steals. Mahorcic had a 15-point, nine-rebound effort for his near-double-double, while also grabbing a career-high four steals and two assists. Josiah Strong and Antonio Reeves chipped in ten and nine points, respectively, while Harouna Sissoko scored eight to go with three rebounds, two steals, and two assists.
Indiana State scored the first four points of the game before Strong drained a three-pointer and then a Fastbreak lay-up on back-to-back possessions to give the hosts a one-point advantage. The Sycamores rallied with a 10-0 run to lead by nine with 12:53 to play in the opening period. The Redbirds clawed back with an 11-2 run that tied the score at 16 points apiece. Each team traded small runs for the remainder of the half, with Indiana State taking a five-point, 31-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half Illinois State fought back to tie the score on two occasions, the second time after a Reeves lay-in with 17:26 to play; however, the Sycamores ran off a 13-2 run to push ahead by 11. The Sycamore advantage reached as many as 14 in the contest. The Redbirds would not quit pushing in the game and closed the score to single digits in the 73-65 loss.
Cooper Neese scored a game-high 17 points, while Tyreke Key scored 13 and Tre Williams had a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double. The Sycamores made 41.8 percent of their shots from the field (23-of-55) and shot a blistering 22-of-24 from the charity stripe (91.7) in the game.
The teams return to the same floor tomorrow afternoon with a 3 p.m. tip-off.
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