RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico - The Illinois State Redbirds make their third appearance in the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday evening, when the 'Birds face off against the Saint Louis Billikens in a 7:30 tip-off.
QUICK HITTERS
• Illinois State has three players - Antonio Reeves, Sy Chatman, and Mark Freeman - who are averaging at least 16 points per game, and if they can finish the season at those same numbers, they will be just the fourth Redbird trio in program history to accomplish the feat.
• Through four games in the 2021-22 season, Antonio Reeves has scored 92 points, the fifth-most over the first four games of a season for Illinois State since 1962-63.
• Antonio Reeves and Sy Chatman are the MVC's leading scoring duo, as the pair averages 41.8 points per game. In all. four different ISU pair
• Five times this season a member of a Missouri Valley Conference school has scored at least 29 points, with four of those coming from Illinois State.
• Illinois State forward Sy Chatman is one of three MVC players this season to average a double-double, as he currently has an 18.8 point, 10.0 rebound average.
• The trio of Reeves, Chatman and Freeman combine to average 58.6 points per game, which is on pace to set a new Illinois State record for the highest scoring trio, and would be the second-highest three-person scoring total in MVC history.
• Illinois State is one of four schools in the country to have had two different players score at least 30 points in a game this season.
• 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.
• Illinois State head basketball coach Dan Muller is one of 44 head coaches in the country this season to be the head coach at their alma mater. His 158 coaching wins at Illinois State is the sixth-most among that group of 44 coaches.
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
Saint Louis enters play in Mexico with a 4-1 record with wins over Central Arkansas, Harris-Stowe, Eastern Illinois, and Mercer, while falling to Memphis.
In the team's last game, a 75-58 win over Mercer, Fred Thatch Jr. led the Billikens with 20 points off of the bench, making 8-of-9 shots from the field while also pulling down eight rebounds. Terrence Hargrove Jr. and Gibson Jimerson each scored 15 points in the win, while Hargrove pulling down 11 rebounds for the double-double. Yuri Collins led the team with seven assists in the victory.
For the year the Billikens have six players averaging at least nine points per game, led by Jimerson's 15.4 point per game average. Hargrove and Marten Linssen each average 11 points, with Jordan Nesbitt just behind with a 10.8 point per game average. Francis Okoro and Collins fall just off of the double-figure pace at 9.4 and 9.2 points per game, each.
16.0 x 3
This season the Redbirds have three players (Antonio Reeves, Sy Chatman, and Mark Freeman) that average at least 16 points per game. If the group continues at this pace, they will become the fourth Illinois State team since 1950 to have four players with such an average. They will join the 1966-67 team (Jerry McGreal, George Terry, and Steve Arends), 1973-74 (Rick Whitlow, Robert Hawkins, and Ron deVries), and 1975-76 (Roger Powell, Billy Lewis, Jeff Wilkins).
FOUR-GAME SCORING START
Through the first four games of the season, Antonio Reeves has scored 92 points, which is the fifth-highest total for a Redbird since 1962-63.
DYNAMIC SCORING DUOS
Illinois State has the top four of the top eight scoring duos in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, as Antonio Reeves and Sy Chatman, Antonio Reeves and Mark Freeman, Sy Chatman and Mark Freeman, and Antonio Reeves and Josiah Strong have four of the top eight highest combined scoring averages in the conference. Below are the top 10 scoring pairs in the conference, with a minimum of having played in half of the teams' games during the season.
BIG SCORING GAMES
Of the five highest scoring individual games in the MVC this season, four have been completed by Illinois State players. Mark Freeman's 34 points against Bucknell and Antonio Reeves' 32 points against Eastern Michigan are the two highest scoring games, while Reeves' 29 against UNCW and Sy Chatman's 29 against Eastern Michigan are tied for the fourth-highest scoring game in the conference this season.
THE THREE AMIGOS
We're not talking about the legendary trio of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short, but Illinois State's group of three are just as good. Later in the notes we talk about where Illinois State's top two scorers are the best pair of scorers in the Missouri Valley Conference. In addition to that, the three-headed monster of Antonio Reeves, Sy Chatman, and Mark Freeman combine to average 58.6 points per game. Not only is that the highest trio scoring in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, it is the second-highest in Missouri Valley conference history.
The same trio's scoring average stands as the highest in Illinois State history. The three-person school scoring record is currently held by two different groups, the 1971-72 trio of Doug Collins, Ron deVries, and Jim Smith; and the 1973-74 group of Rick Whitlow, Robert Hawkins, and Ron deVries. Below are the top-10 all-time scoring trios in Illinois State history
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.
HIGH GAME TOTALS
Illinois State is one of just four schools in NCAA Division I this season to have two different student-athletes that have scored at least 30 points in a game. With Antonio Reeves and Mark Freeman each having reached the 30-point plateau, the pair join Delaware, Colorado State, and Loyola (Md.) with two players with 30+ points.
SPECIAL GAME
With his game of 34 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists Illinois State junior guard Mark Freeman is one of just 39 players since 2010-11 to put up similar numbers, and just one of 28 to do it while committing four or fewer turnovers in the same game. Among the notable other student-athletes to accomplish the feat include Buddy Hield, Trae Young, Ben Simmons, and Ja Morant.
