ISU Looks to Extend Winning Streak Against Roadrunners

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State - on a three-game win streak - will look to continue its run on Tuesday afternoon, when the Redbirds host the UTSA Roadrunners in a 2 p.m. tip-off in Redbird Arena.

QUICK HITTERS

• Illinois State's 6.6 blocked shot per game average puts them eighth in the country in the category.
• The Redbirds have won their last two games without trailing at any point, the 10th time since 1996-97 that ISU has had back-to-back games without trailing. In the 'Birds' last 100 game play minutes, the team has trailed for just 15 seconds.
• Since making the move to a reserve role, ISU guard Josiah Strong has scored 20 or more points three times. His three games of 20+ points are the fourth-most in the country this season.
• Antonio Reeves ranks 12th in NCAA Division I in scoring, averaging 20.8 points per game, and has spent nearly the entire season inside of the top-25 in the country in scoring.
• Reeves is one of just four players in the country to rank inside of the top-25 in both three-point makes per game (he ranks 25th) and three-point percentage (he ranks 21st).
• With his 26 points off the bench against Chicago State, ISU guard Josiah Strong is tied for the 10th most points in a game by a non-starter in program history.
• Reeves has scored 782 career points, which puts him 68th in school history.
• Reeves has scored in double figures in all 12 games this season, which is the 15th-longest such streak to open a season in program history.
• Illinois State has had five different players score at least 20 points in a single game this season, which is the highest such total in the MVC this season.
• In his 10th year 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 163 coaching wins at Illinois State is the sixth-most among that group of 44 coaches.
• The Redbirds' three overtime games are tied for the third-most in the country this season.
• Of the 11 top scoring individual efforts in the MVC this season, four have come from Redbird student athletes.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS

UTSA comes into the game having split its last four games with wins over St. Mary's (Texas) and Sam Houston, and losses to Grand Canyon and UTRGV.

In the team's most recent game, an 18-point loss to UTRGV, Jacob Germany scored a team-high 16 points, while Cedrick Alley Jr. scored 15 points off of the bench. Germany added a team-best nine rebounds, while Dhieu Deing had eight boards and Alley seven. Erik Czumbel led the Roadrunners with four assists, while Deing and Alley each had two steals.

For the season the Roadrunners have four players averaging in double-figures, led by Deing's 16.6 point per game average, with Jordan Ivy-Curry averaging 14.1. Germany averages  13.7 points per game, while Alley averages 10.1. Those four have combined to score 586 of the team's 752 points this season, 78 percent in all. 

Alley's 7.7 rebound per game average is the top mark on the team, as Ivy-Curry has dished out a team-best 26 assists. Alley Jr. and Deing are tied for the team lead with 15 steals each, while Germany's 12 blocked shots pace the squad.

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SENDING AWAY

This season through 12 games, the Illinois State Redbirds rank 8th in the NCAA in blocked shots per game, averaging 6.6 per contest. The Illinois State school record for blocked shots in a season is 171 (5.2 per game)

CALLING FOWL IN THE NON-CONFERENCE

During the 2021-22 season, in 13 non-conference games, Illinois State will face off against five schools with bird mascots, and no two doubling up. So far, ISU has faced a Seahawk (UNCW), Eagle (Eastern Michigan), and Hawk (Quincy), with Ball State (Cardinal) and UTSA (Roadrunner) ahead on the schedule. The Redbirds also face off against three jungle cats (Pride of Purdue Northwest, Tigers of Jackson State, and Cougars of Chicago State), three forms of cattle (Racers of Murray State, Bison of Bucknell and Bulls of Buffalo) a Badger (Wisconsin) and whatever the heck a Billiken (Saint Louis) is.

WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS

Over the last two games, Illinois State has not trailed at any point in the games. Since the 1996-97 season, ISU has had 10 pairs of games, back-to-back, where the Redbirds have not trailed. The last time Illinois State has had three consecutive such games was during the 1996-97 season against Northwestern (Dec. 18), Green Bay (Dec. 21), and UIC (Dec. 23).

MULTIPLE 20-POINTS OFF OF THE BENCH

Since making the move to a reserve role, Illinois State guard Josiah Strong has found his rhythm, and his shooting stroke. In six games, he has scored 20 or more points three times, while averaging 15.5 points per game in those six games. His three games of 20+ points are the fourth-most by a reserve in the country this season, trailing only the four games of reaching the scoring plateau from Matt Balanc (Quinnipiac), Tari Eason (Louisiana State), and Trevion Williams (Purdue). Since 2010-11, the most 20+ point scoring games in a reserve role is 12, held by two different student-athletes.
 

BIG NUMBERS

Eleven games into the 2021-22 season, Illinois State's Antonio Reeves ranks 12th in NCAA Division I in points per game, averaging 20.8 per contest.

HIGH MAKES AND PERCENTAGE

Illinois State junior guard Antonio Reeves is one of just eight student-athletes across NCAA Division I to rank inside of the top 25 in both three point field goals made per game and three-point field goal percentage.

NON STATE, STATE SCHOOLS

There are 358 NCAA Division I schools (including the transitional schools) playing basketball this season. Of those schools, 67 have "State" in its name. Of that 67, 31 are direct state schools (ie, Illinois State), while five others have the state in their name, but with a descriptor (Central Connecticut, East Tennessee, Southeast Missouri). The remainder of the schools - 31 total - have no direct state reference in its name (Boise State, Wichita State, etc.) but use State in the name. Of that group, Illinois State will face off against four such schools in the non-conference season: Murray, Jackson, Chicago, and Ball.
 

MILESTONE WATCH

With 11 games played in the 2021-22 season, Antonio Reeves is rising through the Illinois State career record book. Reeves is 235 points away from becoming the 46th member of the 1,000-point club.

BIG SCORING OFF THE BENCH

Against Chicago State on December 11, Illinois State guard Josiah Strong came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points, including making 6-of-8 three-point shots in the contest. Strong's point total is tied for the 10th-most points in a reserve role for Illinois State since 1976-77. He is also one of 20 student-athletes in the country this season to have scored at least 26 points as a non-starter - led by Elon's Torrence Watson who scored 34 points off of the bench against High Point on December 4.

12-GAME SCORING START

This season Illinois State guard Antonio Reeves has scored 232 points through the first 11 games of the season, which stands as the seventh-best 11-game season-opening scoring total for ISU since 1964-65, putting his name among the all-time greats in Redbird basketball history, as of the four players ahead of him, three are in the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame.