EVANSVILLE -Â After a 12 day break, the Illinois State Redbirds return to action on Saturday, when the team travels to Evansville to take on the Evansville Aces, who are coming off of a two-game sweep of preseason MVC favorite UNI a weekend ago.
QUICK HITTERS
• In the second of two games against Loyola, Illinois State started three freshmen (Howard Fleming Jr., Alston Andrews, and Harouna Sissoko), which is the first time since March 1, 1991 that ISU has started three freshman in a single game.
• Illinois State tied a school record against Chicago State with 17 made three-point baskets, which are also tied for the 24th-most in a game in NCAA Division I this season.
• This season Illinois State has 11 players who have scored in double-figures this season, which is the highest total in the MVC. The team has also had four different players score at least 20 points in a game, which is tied for the top mark in the conference.
• In Illinois State's win over Greenville, the Redbirds set new NCAA Division I records in field goal percentage (84.3%) and total assists (57). The program also scored the fourth-most points, had the fourth-highest single-half scoring output, and the sixth-highest combined score total in NCAA Division I history.
• With his 30 points against Greenville, Illinois State freshman Emon Washington became just the fifth freshman in program history to reach the 30-point plateau, and is the first since Bubbles Hawkins accomplished the feat on February 16, 1973.
• Against Greenville, two Redbirds, DJ Horne and Josiah Strong had point / assist double-doubles. It was the second time in program history that two players had point / assist double-doubles in the same game, and the first time since the 1973-74 season.
• The Redbirds have no seniors on this season's team, the seventh time in program history an ISU squad had no seniors. Of the six previous occurrences, four times the team made a postseason (NCAA or NIT) the following season. ISU is one of 10 NCAA Division I schools with no seniors on its roster this year.
• Along with having no seniors and just four juniors, the team's average athletic year is 1.80 (freshmen = 1, senior  = 4), which is tied for the least experienced team in program history.
• Illinois State has four players from outside of the United States, the most foreign players on a Redbird team in program history. The previous most was from the 1996-97, 2012-13, and 2013-14 seasons that had three players each from outside of the USA.
• There are 11 current NCAA Division I head coaches that either played or coached at Illinois State, including two other head coaches in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Illinois State head coach Dan Muller is one of 35 head coaches in the country who is coaching at his alma mater. Of that group, he has the seventh-most victories.
SCOUTING THE ACES
Evansville enters the weekend pair of games riding a three-game win streak with a win over Southern Illinois and a weekend sweep of UNI over the past weekend.Â
The Aces have four players averaging in double-figure scoring, led by Shamar Givance who averages 13.5 points per game, with Samari Curtis pouring in 13.3 points per game. Noah Frederking (12.8) and Jawaun Newton (11.9) are both over the double-figure plateau, while Evan Kuhlman is just off the pace at 9.5 points per game.
Givance has given out 36 assists over the team's 10 games, while also leading the team with a dozen steals. Kuhlman has blocked nine shots to lead the team, while Jax Levitch leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 6.2 boards per contest.
In the Aces' last game, a 70-64 home win over UNI, Givance scored a game-high 22 points, making 6-of-9 from the field, 3-of-4 from long range, and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Kuhlman scored 14, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Newton scored 11 with a game-high five assists. Newton and Samari Curtis each pulled down six rebounds in the win. The Aces converted on 12-of-32 shots from beyond the arc, and 46.2 percent overall from the field.
YOUNG STARTS
In the second of the two games against the Loyola Ramblers, Illinois State started three freshman: Howard Fleming Jr., Alston Andrews, and Harouna Sissoko. It was the first time since March 1, 1991 in the MVC Tournament against Drake where the Redbirds had started three freshmen in a game (Charles Barnes, Mike VandeGarde, and Scott Taylor).
LONG RANGE RECORDS
Against Chicago State, the Redbirds made a school-record-tying 17 three-point baskets on 36 attempts. The makes also set a Redbird Arena record and tied with two other times in school history in the ISU record books.
UNCOMMONLY COMMON
When the Illinois State Redbirds faced off against the Loyola Ramblers in back-to-back days, it was something that has happened at ISU, but is relatively rare. The last time previous to the 2020-21 MVC opener where Illinois State has played the same school in back-to-back days was on February 9 and 10, 1979 when the Redbirds faced off against Hawai'i in Honolulu. In all, there are seven previous occurrences of back-to-back games against the same opponent, seven of those coming from the 1967-68 season when as part of the IIAC (Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) the teams played the same opponent twice on a conference weekend.
LOTS OF SCORERS
Through eight games of the season, Illinois State has had 11 players reach the double-figure scoring plateau. That total is the top mark in the MVC this season. Additionally, There have been four players who have scored at least 20 points in a game, which is tied for the top mark in the MVC.Â
NOT FROM AROUND HERE
The first Redbird student-athlete to come from outside of the United Stats was Roy Herald, a native of Finland, that played for Illinois State from 1977 through 1981. Since then 16 foreign-native student-athletes have played for the Redbirds. This season's team has four foreign-born student-athletes, the most on a single team in program history. The previous high mark for foreign players was three, set three times, the first in 1996-97, along with 2012-13 and 2013-14.
