NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State men's basketball team will look to shake off its double-overtime loss at Eastern Michigan, when the squad hosts the Murray State Racers on Tuesday evening inside of Redbird Arena.
QUICK HITTERS
• With his back-to-back strong scoring games to open the 2021-22 season, Antonio Reeves currently stands second in the country in scoring average, at 30.5 points per game.
• Reeves' 61 points over the first two games of the season are tied for the second-most points over the team's first two games in program history, second only to George Terry's 67 points to open the 1967-68 season, and tied with Doug Collins' start to the 1971-72 season.
• Dan Muller is one of 44 NCAA Division I head coaches that are coaching at their alma maters - up from 35 from a season ago due to an eye-popping 12 new such coaches this season.Â
• With his unusual stat line of 29 points, five made three-point baskets, and three blocked shots in the team's season-opener against UNCW, Antonio Reeves became just the 38th player in NCAA Division I since 2010-11 to put up such numbers in a single-game.
• Over the first two games of the season, Sy Chatman has pulled down 23 rebounds, which is tied for the fourth-most over the team's first two games in program history. Ron deVries' 28 rebounds over the first two games of the 1973-74 season lead that statistic.
• With his back-to-back 20+ scoring games to start the season, Reeves became one of just 11 student-athletes in the program history to open a season with two consecutive such scoring games. The school record of 20+ point scoring games to open a season is 10 held by Doug Collins to start the 1971-72 season.
• Trailing by 15 with just over five minutes to play in the first half, the Redbirds came back to win the game, providing the 11th-largest single-game comeback in program history.
• Illinois State has four student-athletes from outside of the United States, tied for the most foreign student-athletes on the team, as last season also had four players from outside the USA.
•With the team having seven players standing 6-8 or taller, this Illinois State squad has the fifth-biggest average height of any team in program history.
• During his nine-plus years as head coach, Dan Muller has the third-most wins and third-best win percentage of any NCAA Division I school in Illinois.
• Both Liam McChesney and Mark Freeman both tied ISU program debut records, McChesney with four blocked shots and Freeman with seven made free throws.
SCOUTING THE RACERS
Murray State enters the game having won its first two games of the season over Cumberland and Bellarmine.
In the team's most recent win, a 78-59 victory over Bellarmine, Tevin Brown scored a game-high 29 points, while Trae Hannibal scored a dozen and KJ Williams and Justice Hill each added 10. Williams pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team, while Hill dished out a team-best four assists.
The Racers have two players averaging over 20.0 points per game, led by Brown's 24.0 point per game average, while Williams averages 22.0. Hill and Hannibal also average in double-figures at 11.0 and 10.0 points per game, each. Brown has a team-best 13 rebounds, while three others - Williams, Hannibal, and DJ Burns each have a dozen boards. Hill has dished out a dozen assists, while Brown, Hill, Carter Collins, and Burns each have two steals to lead the team.
Â
BIG NUMBERS
With back-to-back games of 29+ points, Illinois State junior guard Antonio Reeves stands in second place in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 30.5 points per game, the most among players with at least two games. Only Buffalo's Jeenathan Williams, who scored 32 points in his team's opener against Buffalo, is ahead of Reeves on the list.
Â
FAST START
Behind a strong two-game effort with 29 points in the opening game and 32 points in the second game, Illinois State junior guard Antonio Reeves has scored 61 points in his first two games of the season, tied for the second-best two-game start in Illinois State program history. His opening-day scoring total of 29 was tied for the fourth-best opener scoring in school history as well.
BIG BOARDING
With 10 rebounds in the season opener against UNCW, followed by another 13 in the second game of the season against Eastern Michigan, Illinois State forward Sy Chatman has started himself on a trajectory alongside some of the top rebounders in program history.
Â
CONSECUTIVE 20+ POINT GAMES TO OPEN A SEASON
Antonio Reeves became one of just 11 student-athletes in program history to open a season with two consecutive 20+ scoring games, and those 11 have done it a total of 13 times. The school record for 20+ point scoring games to start a season is 10 by Doug Collins, as he also has the second-longest stretch with 7.
UNUSUAL COMBINATION
With his opening-night game with 29 points, five three-point baskets, and three blocked shots, Illinois State junior guard Antonio Reeves became just the 38th player in NCAA Division I since the 2010-11 season to record those numbers in a single game, and the only one to do it on opening night.
CONSECUTIVE 10+ rebound GAMES TO OPEN A SEASON
Similar to the scoring numbers put up by Antonio Reeves, ISU forward Sy Chatman has reached double-figure rebounds in each of the team's first two games,becoming one of just five players in school history to accomplish the feat, which has happened a total of six times (Ron deVries did it to start two different seasons).
DENIED
In the season opener against UNCW, the Redbirds had 10 blocked shots in the game, which is tied for the fourth-most in a game in program history.
UPPER NCAA
After the opening night of the 2021-22 basketball season, Illinois State junior guard Antonio Reeves' career-high 29 points saw him with the eighth-highest scoring game of the evening; however, it was the fourth-highest in games against NCAA Division I competition.
