ISU Takes to Carbondale for Two-Game Series with Salukis

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Illinois State takes to the road for the Redbirds' final two-game road swing, as the 'Birds travel to Carbondale to take on the Salukis of Southern Illinois in a pair of 3 p.m. battles at the Banterra Center.

QUICK HITTERS

• Illinois State sophomore DJ Horne has the ninth-best three-point field goal percentage in the country heading into the weekend, while also sporting the 58th-highest three-point field goals per game mark in the country.
• With his recent hot stretch, Horne has climbed into the top-10 in school history in single-season three-point makes by a sophomore (10th), three-point percentage by a sophomore (1st), season three-point percentage (8th), career three-point percentage (4th), and career three-point makes through sophomore season (5th)
• With his 15 rebounds in a reserve role against Missouri State, Dusan Mahorcic is one of just 13 players in NCAA Division I this season to pull down at least 15 rebounds as a non-starter. The rebound total is also tied for the third-highest in a game this season by a MVC student-athlete.
• DJ Horne's career three-point percentage of .429 is the 12th-highest among active players in NCAA Division I, and is the highest sophomore on the list. 
• This season Illinois State has two freshmen, Harouna Sissoko and Howard Fleming Jr., who have each had games where they pulled down double-digit rebounds. It is the sixth time since 1955-56 that ISU has had two freshmen with a double-figure rebounding total in a game.
• Twice this season an Illinois State men's basketball squad has held an opponent to two or fewer free throws made in a game, the second time coming on Wednesday against Bradley when the Redbirds held the Braves to just two made free throw tries, which is tied for the fourth-fewest in a game allowed in program history.
• This season Illinois State has had 12 players score in double figures at least once, which is the third-highest current total in the country, trailing only Murray State's and Abilene Christian's 13. The Redbird double-figure total is also the most in a season by an ISU team since at least 1966-67. 
• 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. Also on that list is Southern Illinois head coach Bryan Mullins, whose 25 career wins are tied for 30th on the list.
• ISU has had five players score at least 20 points in a game this season, which is tied for the top mark in the MVC this season, and is tied for the sixth-most in a season for Illinois State since 1966-67. The school record for total amount of 20+ point scorers in a season is seven held by the 1968-69 squad.
• Illinois State tied a school record against Chicago State with 17 made three-point baskets, which are also tied for the 29th-most in a game in NCAA Division I this season.
• 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 had the sixth-highest combined score total in NCAA Division I history.
• 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 1.71 (freshmen = 1, senior  = 4), which is 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.

SCOUTING THE SALUKIS

Southern Illinois comes into the weekend battle having split its last four games with wins against UNI and Bradley and losses to Bradley and Missouri State.

In the team's last game, a 65-53 loss at the hands of the Bears, Lance Jones scored 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field, while Dalton Banks scored a dozen. Anthony D'Avanzo scored nine off the bench, while Steven Verplancken added eight points. 

Banks also pulled down a team-high six rebounds, as the Salukis were out-rebounded 35-to-27 in the contest. Jones dished out three assists to lead the team, while also nabbing a pair of steals. 

On the year, the team is led in scoring by Marcus Domask, who averages 16.3 points per game; however, has missed the last seven games due to a foot injury. Jones averages 13.1 points with Harvey pouring in 10.1 points per game. Both D'Avanzo and Trent Brown average 7.3 and 7.2 points per game.

Freshman Kyler Filewich is the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 5.1 rebounds per game, while Jones leads the team in assists (56) and steals (28). 
 
LONG-RANGE THREAT

Illinois State sophomore DJ Horne currently stands ninth in the country in three-point field goal percentage (45.9%), while his 2.63 makes per game stands as the 60th-best total in NCAA Division I. He is the top shooter in the MVC in both categories among the NCAA minimums for qualification (2.5 makes per game for percentage). Of the eight in front of him in percentage, six are seniors, and the other two are sophomores.

MAKING THE WAY INTO SCHOOL HISTORY

Through his first two seasons, Illinois State sophomore DJ Horne has started to etch his name permanently in the Illinois State record books. After his first season he ended the year with the third-best freshman single-season three-point shooting percentage in school history, while his make total put him sixth. This season he is on pace to climb into the top-10 in school history in three-point percentage and total makes by a sophomore, single season three-point percentage (all classes), and career three-point percentage.
    

PULLING DOWN THE REBOUNDS

With his 15 rebounds against Missouri State, Illinois State junior Dusan Mahorcic not only set a new career high. That total is also the third-most in the MVC this season, behind only the 16 twice pulled down by Missouri State's Gaige Prim (at Valparaiso and against Drake) and is tied with two others - Ben Krikke of Valparaiso and Darnell Brodie of Drake.

CAREER MAKER

For his career, DJ Horne has made 42.9 percent of his three-point attempts, which is the 14th-best active career percentage in the country. Of the 13 ahead of him, just Luke Avdalovic, Matt Johnson and Justin Ahrens, along with Horne, have played their entire careers at the same NCAA Division I school.

BIG OFF THE BENCH

With his 15 rebounds against Missouri State in a reserve role, ISU junior forward Dusan Mahorcic became one of just 13 players in NCAA Division I this season to pull down at least 15 rebounds in a game while coming off the bench, and just the ninth to do it against a Division I opponent. The top mark for reserve rebounds this season comes from D'Mauria Jones of Oral Roberts (against Bacone) and Enrique Freeman of Akron (against Malone), as each grabbed 21 rebounds in a game while coming off of the bench.

FRESHMAN REBOUNDING

With Harouna Sissoko and Howard Fleming Jr. each having games this season of double-digit rebounds, it is the first time since 1995-96, and just the sixth time since 1955-56 that Illinois State has had two freshmen reach the double-figure rebounding plateau in the same season.

FREE OF FOULING

Twice this season the Illinois State Redbirds held an opponent to two of fewer free throws made in a game, with one made free throw allowed on January 10 against Evansville (on one attempt) and two made free throws allowed on January 20 against Bradley (on eight attempts). The one free throw made by an opponent is tied for the program record for fewest free throw makes, while the two against Bradley is tied for fourth.

DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORERS

This season through 19 games, Illinois State has had 12 different players score in double figures in at least one game. That is the third-highest total in the country, behind only the 13 double-figure scorers from Murray State and Abilene Christian this season.

NOT FROM AROUND HERE

The first Redbird student-athlete to come from outside of the United States 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. 

FRIENDLY FACE

Illinois State junior forward Dusan Mahorcic and Southern Illinois graduate transfer forward Anthony D'Avanzo spent the 2018-19 season at NCAA Division II Lewis. In addition to that pairing, Southern Illinois assistant coach Brendan Mullins spent two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) as an assistant coach on the Redbird squad.