EVANSVILLE, Ind. - After meeting on Friday night with a 38-point Illinois State win, the Redbirds and Evansville will face off once more, on Sunday afternoon in the second of two consecutive games against the Aces.
QUICK HITTERS
• Against Evansville on Friday night, Illinois State made 70.2 percent of its shots from the field, which is the highest single-game total in a game featuring two NCAA Division I schools.
• Illinois State is one of two schools in NCAA Division I to have two student-athletes with at least 50 made three-point field goals this season.
• 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.
• Illinois State's 38-point win on Friday is ISU's largest MVC win since the program topped Indiana State by 43 points on January 16, 1997.
• Illinois State has played in four overtime games this season - tied for the most in the country, and has played in five overtime periods, which is the second-most in the country.
• With two steals and two blocks against Evansville on Friday, Kendall Lewis becomes the country's 22nd member of the 20-steal, 20-block group for the season.Â
• With just five turnovers against Evansville on Friday, it marked a tie for the fifth-fewest turnovers in a game in school history, and the lowest since the program had four against Drake on January 3, 2016.
• Antonio Reeves became the 58th member of the program's 900-point club on Wednesday night against Missouri State, and is eight points away from moving into 53rd in program history in career scoring.
• Antonio Reeves has scored 383 points through his first 19 games, which is tied for the 10th-highest total for a season through the opening 19 games of the season in program history.
• 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 166 coaching wins at Illinois State is the sixth-most among that group of coaches.
• Illinois State has five players who have scored at least 20 points in a game this season, which is second-most in the MVC, and the 11th-most in NCAA Division I.
• Against Missouri State, ISU guard Antonio Reeves saw his streak of 17 consecutive double-figure scoring games to start a season snapped, which ends as the 13th-longest such streak in school history.
SCOUTING THE ACES
Off of the Friday night loss at Illinois State, Evansville will look to snap its current six-game losing skid on Sunday afternoon against the same Redbird squad.
In the contest on Friday, Jawaun Newton and Blake Sisley each scored 10 points, as the Aces made 22-of-51 shots in the game. Jawaun Newton pulled down six of the team's 19 rebounds in the contest, while Shamar Givance gave out four assists.
Newton and Givance have identical 14.1 point per game scoring averages, with Noah Frederking averaging 7.2 and Blaise Beauchamp 6.2. Newton's 5.9 rebounds per game leads the team, while Givance leads the team in assists (62) and steals (23). Evan Kuhlman has a team-best nine blocked shots, as four different players - Frederking, Newton, Givance, and Antoine Smith Jr. - each have at least 20 made three-pointers on the year.
HIGH PERCENTAGE
Against Evansville on Friday, January 21, Illinois State converted on 70.2 percent of its field goal tries, which is the second-highest single-game percentage in school history, behind only the NCAA-record 84.3 percent a season ago against NCAA Division III Greenville. It is the best mark in program history against a NCAA Division I opponent, and the first time since February 27 of last season that a NCAA Division I school made at least 70 percent of its field goals against another Division I school. Since 2010-11, 67 Division I schools have made at least 70 percent of its field goals in a game, just 41 of those coming against Division I schools.
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BIG MARGIN
With Illinois State's 38-point win against Evansville, it was ISU's largest win in a conference game since the school topped Indiana State by 43 on January 16, 1997. It is tied for the 46th-largest win margin in MVC history. The last time an MVC school won by at least 38 points was on February 16, 2008 when Missouri State topped Evansville 73-38 - also by 38 points.It is also the largest margin of victory in the entire Illinois State / Evansville series, topping the previous high mark of 31 in an Evansville win on February 11, 2004.
20-20 CLUB
With his two-block, two-steal game against Evansville, Illinois State forward Kendall Lewis became the country's 22nd member of the 20-20- club - players who have both 20 blocked shots and 20 steals on the season, and is one of two players in the MVC (joined by Valparaiso's Sheldon Edwards) to be in that club. He is the first Redbird player since Phil Fayne during the 2018-19 season to be a part of the club, as Fayne had 40 blocked shots and 36 steals during that year. He is the 31st Redbird since 1992-93 to be a part of that grouping - one of which includes current Director of Player Personnel Tony Wills from the 2016-17 season.
LOW TURNOVERS
When Illinois State gave away just five turnovers against Evansville on January 21, it marked a tie for the fifth-fewest turnovers in a game in school history, and the lowest total since the school committed four turnovers against Drake on January 3, 2016. It is also tied for 43rd in the NCAA this season for fewest turnovers in a game.
EXTRA TIME
This season across NCAA Division I basketball there have been 151 games that have needed at least one extra period. Illinois State has taken part in four of those games, tied the-most in the country this season along with High Point, UConn, Utah Valley, UT Arlington, and Valparaiso. With its double-overtime game against Eastern Michigan, ISU has played in five overtime periods, which is tied for the second-most this season, along with FIU, NC State, and Valparaiso; and trailing only Eastern Michigan's six for most overtime periods played this season (as of games played on Jan. 19).
PAIRING UP FROM DISTANCE
In the history of the collegiate three-point basket (starting in the 1985-86 season), there have been 72 pair of Redbird student-athletes to team up to make a combined 100 three-point baskets in a single season. One of those pairs is ISU guards Josiah Strong (53) and Antonio Reeves (51) who have combined 104 three-point baskets, tied for the 62nd-most by a pair in program history. The two-person school record is 162 from Champ Oguchi (90) and Osiris Eldridge (72) from the 2008-09 season
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.
EXTRA TIME
This season across NCAA Division I basketball there have been 151 games that have needed at least one extra period. Illinois State has taken part in four of those games, tied the-most in the country this season along with High Point, UConn, Utah Valley, UT Arlington, and Valparaiso. With its double-overtime game against Eastern Michigan, ISU has played in five overtime periods, which is tied for the second-most this season, along with FIU, NC State, and Valparaiso; and trailing only Eastern Michigan's six for most overtime periods played this season (as of games played on Jan. 19).
