NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds host the UNI Panthers over the weekend, in the final MVC series of the 2020-21 season in a pair of games at Redbird Arena.
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.Â
• Illinois State associate head coach Brian Jones is a 1994 alumnus of UNI.
• Illinois State freshman Emon Washington was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on February 23. His award saw him become the second different Redbird to earn Newcomer of the Week this season. The last time ISU had two different student-athletes earn Newcomer of the Week honors in the same season was 2014-15.
• Illinois State sophomore DJ Horne has the 13th-best three-point field goal percentage in the country heading into the weekend, while also sporting the 72nd-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 14 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 fourth-highest in a game this season by a MVC student-athlete.
• DJ Horne's career three-point percentage of .421 is the 22nd-highest among active players in NCAA Division I, and is the fifth-highest sophomore on the list.Â
• 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 fourth-highest current total in the country, trailing only Murray State's, UT Arlington, 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.Â
• ISU has had five players score at least 20 points in a game this season, which is the second-highest 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.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
UNI, the 2020-21 MVC preseason favorite, come into the game with a 7-15 overall record and have dropped five of its last seven games. In the team's most recent game, a 77-69 loss at home to Drake, the Panthers were led by Austin Phyfe who scored 19 points. Trae Berhow scored 13 points for UNI while Nate Heise scored a dozen and Bowen Born 10.
Noah Carter, who scored seven points also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while Tywhon Pickford grabbed eight rebounds off of the bench as he also led the team with five assists.
Berhow leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.1 points per game after its leading scorer from the season before and the preseason MVC Player of the Year AJ Green suffered a season-ending injury three games into the season. Phyfe averages 11.8 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game, while Born (11.0) and Carter (10.8) all average in double-figures.
Berhow leads the team in assists with 61 with Phyfe close behind with 56 assists. Heise's 24 steals lead the team, as does his 16 blocked shots on the season.
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 72nd-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 12 in front of him in percentage, seven are seniors, two are juniors, and three are sophomores.
MULTIPLE NEWCOMERS OF THE WEEK
For the first time since the 2014-15 season, Illinois State had two different newcomers earn MVC Newcomer of the Week honors, as Josiah Strong earned the honor on November 30, and Emon Washington most recently on February 22. The 2014-15 season saw DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (Nov. 24), Deontae Hawkins (Dec. 1), and MiKyle McIntosh (Jan. 12) each earn the honor. The school record for most different Newcomer of the Week Award winners came during the 2006-07 when Dom Johnson, Boo Richardson, Anthony Slack, and Osiris Eldridge all earned the award.
YOUNG SCORER
In the team's big win over Greenville, Illinois State freshman Emon Washington made 12-of-13 shots from the field for a team-high 30 points. The field goal percentage set a new single-game school record, while becoming just the fifth freshman in school history to reach the 30-point plateau. The last freshman to score 30 points in a game was Bubbles Hawkins against Jacksonville on February 16, 1973. Of the six on this list, five (including Washington) added another game of 20+ points during his freshman season.
BIG OFF THE BENCH
With his 15 rebounds against Missouri State in a reserve role, ISU junior forward Dusan Mahorcic became one of just 14 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.
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 fourth-most in the MVC this season, behind only the 121 and 16 twice pulled down by Missouri State's Gaige Prim (Southern Illinois, 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 22nd-best active career percentage in the country. There are four other sophomores on the list ahead of him on the active list.
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.
Â
