NORMAL, Ill. – In his first game on the sideline as a head coach, new Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon and his squad picked up an 84-49 exhibition win over the College of Wooster – Pedon's alma mater – on Sunday afternoon.
Colton Sandage – also in his ISU debut – scored a game-high 23 points while Darius Burford and Kendall Lewis each scored 13 and Joe Petrakis 10. In all, ten players scored for the Redbirds, and seven made at least one three-point basket.
Burford gave out a game-high five assists with Seneca Knight and Luke Kasubke each giving out four, as Kasubke's eight rebounds led the team. Burford had four of the team's ten steals in the game, while Kendall Lewis had a trio of blocked shots.
The teams battled through the first seven and a half minutes of game play and were knotted at 13 points apiece with 12:26 to play in the half, before the Redbird defense tightened, holding the Fighting Scots scoreless for the next 9:17 of gameplay time. While holding their counterpart scoreless, the Redbirds ran off 19 consecutive points before taking a 41-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half the margin never dipped below 21 points before settling at its final 35-point margin following Petrakis' second three-pointer of the game, giving the game its 84-49 final score.
Illinois State made 47.5 percent of its shots in the game (29-of-61) and was 13-of-31 (41.9 percent) from beyond the arc. The Redbird defense held Wooster to 19-of-54 shooting (35.2 percent), and just 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Redbirds won the rebounding battle 39-to-29, and had 17 assists against 13 turnovers, while forcing the Fighting Scots into 18 turnovers while allowing nine assists.
ISU officially opens its 2022-23 season on Monday, November 7, when the squad hosts the Western Illinois Leathernecks in a 7 p.m. contest on the Illinois State campus.
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