NORMAL, Ill. – Playing inside Horton Field House for the first time in over 34 years, the Illinois State men's basketball team fed off the energy from the 3,420 fans that packed the building, rallying late for a 77-71 win over SIUE on Saturday afternoon.
Darius Burford scored a season-high-tying 20 points for ISU, making 6-of-12 shots from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Colton Sandage added 16 points for the Redbirds, while Seneca Knight added a dozen points and a game-high-tying seven rebounds. Malachi Poindexter chipped in nine points off the bench, while Kendall Lewis pulled down seven rebounds while scoring six points despite being plagued by foul trouble.
The game saw 10 lead changes and six tie scores, with the largest lead gained by either team over the 40 minutes was just seven points – each team led by seven at one point in the game. After Illinois State opened the scoring in the game, SIUE (7-4) scored the next nine points to take its seven-point advantage 5:16 into the contest. The Redbird deficit stayed at seven with just over eight minutes to play in the opening half before the hosts chipped away at the deficit, cutting the margin to just one after a Sandage driving lay-up with 36 seconds on the first half clock.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half – a half in which nine of the ten lead changes for the game occurred. The Redbirds used a 7-0 run to take the lead back, leading by six; however, SIUE answered right back with a 12-2 run of their own to re-take its advantage. Trailing by two with 4:00 remaining in the contest, ISU used an 8-0 run to take a lead it would not give up for the remainder of the game, as each of the 'Birds' last 10 points came from the free throw line.
Illinois State made 42.1 percent of its shots in the game (24-of-57), 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from long range, and 23-of-27 form the charity stripe – the eighth time this season that the Redbirds have made at least 80 percent of their free throw tries in 11 games on the season. SIUE shot better than the 'Birds at 43.8 percent (28-of-64), 5-of-18 from beyond the arc (27.8 percent) and was 10-of-11 on its free throw tries.
The Cougars were led by Ray'Sean Taylor who scored 20 points while Shamar Wright scored 12, Terrance Thompson 11, and Jonathan Kurtas 10.
After taking the next week off for finals the 'Birds return to the court on Saturday, December 17 when the team faces off against the Cardinals of Ball State in the inaugural Indy Classic, hosted at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tip-off for the game starts at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State is now 5-6 on the season while SIUE is 7-4.
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 3 Seneca Knight, 10 Darius Burford, 15 Colton Sandage, 22 Kendall Lewis, and 50 Ryan Schmitt
- This is the first time that this lineup has been used this season.
- Today's game is the eighth time these two teams have met on the basketball court.
- Illinois State leads the all-time series 8-0.
- Illinois State won the opening tip.
- The first Illinois State points of the game came with 14:19 to play in the first half on a Ryan Schmitt put-back lay-up.
- Illinois State's first subs were Luke Kasubke and Malachi Poindexter with 16:19 to play in the first half.
- SIUE led 34-33 at halftime.
- Down two with four minutes left in the game ISU ran off eight straight points to push to a lead they would not give up in the game.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Seneca Knight
- Reached the double-figure scoring plateau for the sixth time this season and 50th of his career
- Darius Burford
- Scored in double-figures for the second straight game and sixth time this year
- Reached the 20-point plateau for the second time this season, tying the season-high he set at home against Northwestern State on November 17.
- Colton Sandage
- Reached double-figure scoring for the second consecutive game, and the fourth time this season
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