NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Redbirds scored the first five points of the game and never trailed in the contest, as ISU brought home a 78-46 exhibition win in front of 6,386 fans inside of CEFCU Arena on Sunday night.
Darius Burford scored a game-high 19 points while Malachi Poindexter added 17 and Ty Pence 13. In all, a dozen Redbirds scored in the game with just one person playing more than 20 minutes. Brandon Lieb and Kendall Lewis each pulled down eight rebounds, while Dalton Banks and Lieb each had three assists to pace the squad.
The Illinois State regular season begins on Monday, November 6 when the Redbirds host the Gray Wolves in a 7 p.m. tip-off inside CEFCU Arena.
The Redbirds got a three-pointer from Luke Kasubke and a tip-in by Lewis to push ahead by five before the visitors scored five of their own to knot the score at five. ISU responded with a 9-0 run, the first of five 7-0 or better runs by the Redbirds in the game.
Illinois State kept its foot on the gas pedal for the remainder of the half, leading by as many as 25 after Malachi Poindexter made three free throws with 0.7 on the clock to send ISU into the locker room with a 44-19 lead.
In the second half the Redbirds stretched their lead to as many as 38 on a 20-7 half-opening run, highlighted by three straight three-pointers from Poindexter. The lead dipped to as few as 26 in the second half as the 'Birds cruised to the 32-point win.
Jordan Davis led the Redbird defense with four steals, while Poindexter, Pence, and Burford each had a pair of thefts. Chase Walker had six rebounds and two assists for the victors.
The Redbirds out-rebounded the Titans 50-to-34, while making 44.8 percent (26-of-58) of its shots from the field and 7-of-27 from long range. Illinois Wesleyan was held to 27.6 percent field goal shooting, including 4-of-24 from distance.
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