NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Redbirds out-scored Bradley 41-25 in the second half, and used a 41-16 run over an 18 minute stretch midway in the game, to turn a 10-point deficit into a 15-point advantage, as the Redbirds held on late for a 71-56 win over I-74 rival Bradley on Wednesday evening.
DJ Horne scored a game-high 23 points for Illinois State, making 9-of-16 shots from the field and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, while also adding five rebounds in the win. Josiah Strong scored 14 points with four steals, as Antonio Reeves added 11 points. Dusan Mahorcic and Dedric Boyd each scored eight points, while Howard Fleming Jr. added seven with a team-high four assists.
Bradley came out firing to start the game, and pushed ahead to a 12-point, 16-4 lead seven and a half minutes into the game – the largest margin of the game for the Braves – and the visitors led by 10 at 20-10 with 10:47 to play in the opening period. From there it was all Illinois State as the Redbirds closed the half on a 20-11 run to cut the deficit to a single point heading into the locker room at halftime.
Illinois State scored the first seven points of the second half on a Reeves pull-up jumper, a pair of Strong free throws, and a three-pointer from DJ Horne, and ISU would not trail again in the contest. The Redbirds kept the pressure on, and used a 9-0 run in the middle of the second half to push the margin to 15. The Illinois State advantage grew to as many as 19 after a Reeves three-point play, with the Redbirds cruising to a 15-point rivalry win.
The Redbirds out-rebounded Bradley 39-36 and held a 22-8 advantage in points off of turnovers. Elijah Childs had a double-double with 14 points and game-high 11 rebounds, as Terry Nolan Jr. and Darius Hannah each scored nine.
Illinois State made 43.3 percent of its shots in the game, and 9-of-24 from beyond the arc (37.5 percent), while Bradley converted on 40 percent of its shots (24-of-60), and 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from long range.
The Redbirds have a short turnaround until their next games, a pair of home battles with the Valparaiso Crusaders on Saturday, January 23 and Sunday, January 24, with both games starting at 5 p.m.
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