Redbirds Look to Sweep Season Series with Missouri State

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Fresh off of a come-from-behind win against I-74 rival Bradley, the Illinois State Redbirds take to the road to battle with the Missouri State Bears, as the Redbirds will look for the season sweep of the Bears.

QUICK HITTERS

• The game is a battle of the top two scorers in the MVC this season, as Antonio Reeves averages 21.1 points per game, and Missouri State's Isiaih Mosley averages 20.0 points per contest.
• Against Bradley, Illinois State rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit, which is the second-largest deficit overcome for a win in program history, and the eighth-largest in MVC history.
• Antonio Reeves has climbed into 60th place in program history, and is nine points away from becoming the 58th student-athlete in team history to reach the 900-point plateau for a career.
• Josiah Strong has climbed into eighth place in NCAA Division I in three-point percentage, making 47.7 percent of his long-range tries.
• Antonio Reeves ranks 11th in the country in points per game, and is the top scorer in the MVC.
• Josiah Strong and Antonio Reeves are the only set of teammates in the country to both rank inside of the top-40 in the NCAA in both three-point field goals per game and three-point field goal percentage. 
• Antonio Reeves has scored 358 points through his first 17 games, which is the eighth-highest total for a season through the opening 17 games of the season, and stands within five points of Tarise Bryson (2000-01) and six from Jeff Wilkins (1976-77).
• 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 165 coaching wins at Illinois State is the sixth-most among that group of coaches.
• Illinois State's 5.8 blocked shots per game ranks 13th in the country in that average, and have been inside of the top-20 through the entire season.
• The Illinois State trio of Antonio Reeves, Sy Chatman, and Josiah Strong combine to average 49.0 points per game, which is on pace to be the sixth-highest three-person scoring total in MVC history.
• Antonio Reeves has reached double-figure scoring for all 17 games of the season, which is the 13th-longest single-season-opening streak in program history, and he is the only player in the MVC this season to have scored in double-figures in every game.
• This season Illinois State has played in four overtime games, which is tied for the most in the country this season.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Missouri State comes into the game having won five of its last six games, with the only blemish coming at home against UNI.

In the team's last game, a 74-57 win at Valparaiso, Isiaih Mosley scored a game-high 32 points, as the guard made 13-of-21 shots from the field and 3-of-6 from long range. Gaige Prim also added 10 points while pulling down seven rebounds. A former Beacon player, Donovan Clay pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Prim's five assists were tied for a game-high, and the Bears made 46.8 percent of their shots in the game.

For the year, MSU is led by Mosley, who is second in the MVC in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game. Prim stands second on the team with a 13.7 point per game average, with Ja'Monta Black (10.4) and Jaylen Minnett (10.2) also average in double-figures for the year. 

Prim's 8.1 rebounds per game are the top mark on the squad, with Clay's rebounding average of 6.3 boards per game is second on the team. Lu'cye Patterson has dished out 47 assists for a balanced Missouri State attack, with seven different players dishing out at least 20 assists so far this season. Prim and Clay lead the team in blocked shots with 23 and 19, while Mosley's 21 steals are the highest on the squad.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

Or do call it a comeback, we're just taking the advice of LL Cool J from the 1990 song Mama Said Knock You Out. In Illinois State's I-74 rivalry win against Bradley the Redbirds found themselves trailing 35-15 with 6:24 to play in the first half. The team turned it around, running off a 42-14 run over the next 19:13 of gameplay time, turning the 20-point deficit into an eight-point lead. The recovery from a 20-point deficit was the second time in ISU history that a team has rallied from such a deficit, with the largest margin was a 21-point deficit against Butler on November 27, 1989.

The comeback was also the eighth time an MVC school rallied from 20+ points down, with three of those eight largest comebacks coming against the Braves.

MILESTONE WATCH

Now 17 games into the 2021-22 season, Antonio Reeves is rising through the Illinois State career record book. Reeves is 109 points away from becoming Illinois State's 46th member of the 1,000-point club.

A SHOOTER AND A MAKER

This season Illinois State guard Josiah Strong is leading the MVC in both three-point field goals per game, and three-point field goal percentage. His percentage is one to behold, as he stands eighth in the country in three-point percentage.
 

BIG NUMBERS

With 16 games played into the 2021-22 season, Illinois State's Antonio Reeves ranks 13th in NCAA Division I in points per game, averaging 20.8 per contest.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

On Monday, January 3, Illinois State forward Sy Chatman was named the MVC Player of the Week, his first collegiate Player of the Week honor. On the week, Chatman averaged 22.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, making 62 percent of his shots from the field and 76.5 percent of his free throw tries. He scored 22 points at nationally-ranked Wisconsin, and followed that with 23 points against Valparaiso. 
 

HIGH MAKES AND PERCENTAGE

Illinois State guards Antonio Reeves and Josiah Strong are two of just 21 student-athletes across NCAA Division I to rank inside of the top 40 in both three point field goals made per game and three-point field goal percentage. Reeves and Strong are the only teammates among the 21 in that list.

SPECIAL GAME STATS

Against UTSA, Illinois State guard Antonio Reeves scored 21 points with a career-high 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. He also gave out four assists while making three three-point baskets. That stat line has only been duplicated by 12 other players in NCAA Division I this season, with 10 others doing it against a NCAA Division I foe.

FIRST 17-GAMES SCORING START

Through the first 17 games of the season, Illinois State guard Antonio Reeves has the eighth-most points during any of the first 17 games of a season in program history, and is five points behind the pace set by Tarise Bryson (2000-01) and six behind Jeff Wilkins (1976-77).