ISU Travels to Peoria for Second Game of Series against Braves

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds travel to Peoria, Illinois, on Thursday for the second game of a two-game series with the Bradley Braves, as the Redbirds look for a season sweep after a 71-56 ISU win in mid-January.

QUICK HITTERS

• This season Illinois State has three freshmen, Harouna Sissoko, Howard Fleming Jr., and Emon Washington who have each had games where they pulled down double-digit rebounds. It is the first time in program history with three freshmen with a double-figure rebounding total in a game during the same season.
• 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. 
• Illinois State sophomore DJ Horne has the 17th-best three-point field goal percentage in the country heading into the weekend, while also sporting the 73rd-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 (8th), three-point percentage by a sophomore (3rd), career three-point percentage (6th), 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 .421 is the 21st-highest among active players in NCAA Division I, and is the fifth-highest sophomore on the list. 
• 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. 
• 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 BRAVES

Bradley comes into the second meeting with the Redbirds having dropped nine of its last 11 games after Illinois State snapped the Braves' three-game losing streak in late January.

In Bradley's last game, a 72-57 loss at Missouri State, Rienk Mast scored a team-high 15 points, while Kevin McAdoo and Sean East each scored 13. Ville Tahvanainen scored nine points, with that quartet scoring 50 of the team's 57 points in the loss. Mast pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the double-double, as Antonio Thomas dished out four assists to lead the team. 

For the season, the Braves are led by Elijah Childs, who leads the Braves in scoring (14.2 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg), and blocked shots (28). Terry Nolan and Ja'Shon Henry also average in double-figure scoring, at 11.2 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. 

Bradley out-rebounds its opponents by an average of 3.6 rebounds per game, with Mast second among the active players in rebounding, pulling down 5.7 per contest. East holds a narrow lead on the team in assists with 74, just ahead of Nolan who has 69 helpers on the year. Nolan's 25 steals are the top mark on the team, while East is just behind with 21.

LONG-RANGE THREAT

Illinois State sophomore DJ Horne currently stands 17th in the country in three-point field goal percentage (45.9%), while his 2.57 makes per game stands as the 73rd-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 16 in front of him in percentage, a dozen are seniors, two are juniors, and 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, and career three-point percentage.

PULLING ON 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 42.1 percent of his three-point attempts, which is the 21st-best active career percentage in the country. There are four other sophomores on the list ahead of him on the active list.

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

This season, Harouna Sissoko, Howard Fleming Jr., and Emon Washington each had a game of double-digit rebounds. It was the first time in school history that the Redbirds had three freshmen reach the double-figure plateau in the same season. There are five other times since 1955-56 that the Redbirds had two freshman reach the double-figure rebounding mark.

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 21 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.