GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman – Trailing at halftime, the Illinois State Redbirds outscored the SEC's LSU 43-to-32 in the second half; however, it was not enough to overcome the halftime deficit, as ISU fell 77-61 in the opening game of the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic.
Darius Burford scored a team-high 17 points while pulling down six rebounds and grabbing a pair of steals. Seneca Knight scored a season-high 14 points (12 in the second half) for ISU with a team-best seven rebounds, while Colton Sandage scored 12 points – 11 of those coming in the second half. Kendall Lewis narrowly missed double-figures with nine points, while Liam McChesney scored seven.
The Redbirds and Tigers traded the lead early in the game with LSU making two free throws early, and Darius Burford making a three-pointer with 18:48 to play in the game; however, LSU ran off 13 consecutive points to lead 15-3, as a Liam McChesney lay-in with 12:40 to play snapped the streak, but could not get back within single digits in the first half and trailed 45-18 heading into the locker room at halftime.
ISU came out gunning out of halftime and opened the half on a 10-2 run to close the gap to 19. The Redbirds were able to trim their deficit to 16 with 20 seconds left on a pair of Lewis free throws to give the game its 77-61 final score.
The Redbirds made 42.3 percent of their shots in the game (22-of-52), and 5-of-22 (22.7%) from long range. LSU was 26-of-53 from the field for the game (49.1%) and 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.
LSU was led by Murray State transfer KJ Williams who scored 33 points, while Adam Miller added 13 and Cam Hayes 10.
The Redbirds return to action tomorrow at 10 am (CT) and will face off against either Akron or Western Kentucky.
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