Redbirds Return Home for Battle with Purdue Northwest

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds will look to shake off a two-game stretch at the Cancun Challenge when the squad plays Purdue Northwest in the team's return to the United States.

QUICK HITTERS

• The duo of Antonio Reeves and Sy Chatman are the highest scoring pair in the MVC this season, while Reeves and Mark Freeman have the third-highest scoring average in the conference.
• Of the six highest scoring individual games in the MVC this season, four have been put together by Redbird student-athletes.
• 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. 
• 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.
• The Redbird trio of Reeves, Chatman, and Freeman combine to average 54.2 points per game, which currently stands as the fourth-highest three-person scoring total in MVC history, and the seventh-highest in ISU history.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• With his game of 34 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists against Bucknell, Mark Freeman became one of just 39 players since 2010-11 to put up similar numbers, and one of just 28 to do it while committing for or fewer turnovers.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE

Purdue Northwest comes into the game with a 2-4 overall record after falling 83-66 to Union University. In the game, the Pride had four players reach double-figure scoring, led by Anthony Irvin's 13 points. Gregory Boyle - in his first game this season - and Jyrus Freels each scored 11 while Jonte Coleman added 10. Freels pulled down a dozen rebounds, as Boyle and Coleman each dished out a team-high three assists.

Freels and Irvin each lead the team by scoring 12.8 points per game, as Singolay Njie averages 11.2. Caleb Zurliene has scored 60 points in the team's six games, with Coleman just off of the double-figure pace with 58 points in six games. Freels and Njie lead the team in rebounding, averaging 8.2 and 7.8 rebounds per game, each, as the team out-rebounds its opponents by an average of 3.8 per game. The team averages eight made three-pointers per game this year, as 41 percent of the team's shots come from beyond the arc.

Irvin's 17 assists lead the team, as Coleman is just behind with 16 assists.Irvin and Kai Steinman each have seven steals to lead the team, while Zurliene's seven blocked shots are almost 1/3 of the team's total for the year.

DYNAMIC SCORING DUOS

Illinois State has the top three of the top five scoring duos in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, as Antonio Reeves and Sy Chatman, Antonio Reeves and Mark Freeman, and Sy Chatman and Mark Freeman, have three of the top five 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 six 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 54.2 points per game. Not only is that the highest trio scoring in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, it currently stands as the fourth-highest in Missouri Valley conference 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 Redbirds join Colorado State, Winthrop, Loyola (Md.), as the only schools in the country this season with two different players with 30+ points in a single game.

SPECIAL GAME

With his game of 34 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists against Bucknell on Nov. 20,  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.

COACHING THE ALMA MATER

There are currently 44 NCAA Division I head coaches that are leading their alma maters - up from 35 a season ago - including Illinois State's Dan Muller. Muller stands sixth of those coaches in total wins with 158 in his 10th season with the program. Of that group, Jim Boeheim leads the select fraternity with 984 victories - and there are an eye popping 12 new coaches leading their alma maters for the 2021-22 season.