EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Despite 23 points from Antonio Reeves, a cold-shooting night from the field dropped Illinois State on Sunday afternoon, as ISU fell 56=53 to the Evansville Aces.
Reeves was 11-of-19 from the field for his 23 points, his 11th game this season with 20+ points. Mark Freeman scored 11 points off the bench, making 5-of-11 shots from the field. Josiah Strong and Ryan Schmitt tied for the team lead with five rebounds each, as the Redbirds out-rebounded Evansville 36-to-32 in the contest.
Illinois State is back in action on Wednesday, January 26 when the team plays host to the Drake Bulldogs with a 7 p.m. tip-off at Redbird Arena
The ISU defense started strong, holding Evansville scoreless through the first five and a half minutes of the game; however, the Redbird offense could only stretch the lead to 6-0 at that point. The Illinois State lead grew to as many as eight, halfway through the period, before the Aces started chipping away at the deficit, and eventually tied the score at 19 points apiece with 4:24 to play in the half. The Redbird defense once again clamped down, holding the hosts scoreless for the remainder of the half, as Reeves scored Illinois State's last six points to send ISU into the locker room with a six-point, 25-19 lead at the break.
Evansville came out of the locker room gunning and scored the first 10 points of the second half to lead by four, and the hosts extended their lead to as many as eight at 38-30 before ISU ran off 12 consecutive points to lead by four at 42-38. Neither team would lead by more than four points in the last eight minutes of the game, as there were four total tie scores and five lead changes in the final 20 minutes. The final lead change happened with 4:45 to play in the contest with a 4-0 Evansville run, and despite ISU tying the score late, it could not re-take the lead in the three-point loss.
Illinois State made 22-of-55 shots in the contest (40%), while making just 3-of-16 (18.8%) from beyond the arc.
Evansville was led by Shamar Givance who scored 18 points, while Noah Frederking scored 14 and Evan Kuhlman 12 for the Aces.
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