Redbirds Travel to St. Louis for Battle with Billikens

NORMAL, Ill. -  For the first time since the 1991-92 season, the Illinois State Redbirds and Saint Louis Billikens will meet up in an on-campus arena in the first game of a two-year home-and-home series.

QUICK HITTERS

• The game is the first between the schools in an on-campus environment for since February 17, 1992 when the teams met in Normal. The last meeting between the schools in St. Louis was on December 15, 1990.
• In the season opener against Lourdes, Darius Burford scored his 1,000th collegiate point, and he now ranks 190th in NCAA Division I among career scores. Teammate Kendall Lewis stands nine points shy of reaching the same plateau for his career.
• Darius Burford made 48.0 percent of his shots from the field last season, which is the third-highest in NCAA Division I.
• With Illinois State's starting lineup of Luke Kasubke, Malachi Poindexter, Dalton Banks, Myles Foster, and Brandon Lieb, the combined jersey total of the five was just 20, the lowest starting lineup jersey total since at least 2005-06.
• Standing 7-1, Brandon Lieb is the tallest player in Redbird basketball history, and is just the seventh player to stand 7-0 or taller.
• This past summer Illinois State redshirt senior Harouna Sissoko played for the Mali National Team at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. He averaged 7.0 points per game in three games for his country's squad, while his three-point percentage of 71.4 was the highest in the tournament.
• Illinois State senior forward Kendall Lewis is one of nine returning players in NCAA Division I with at least 24 blocks, 45 assists, 46 steals, and 350 points from last season.
• Illinois State senior Malachi Poindexter set a new school record for single-season free throw percentage in 2022-23, making 52-of-55 free tries, a percentage of 94.5%.
• Last season Kendall Lewis became the 17th Redbird player since 1963-64 to score at least 350 points with at least 235 rebounds.
• While standing as the tallest player in Illinois State history, and is one of just three players standing 7-0 or taller inside the MVC this season.
• Ryan Pedon is one of 55 coaches in their second season at their schools, including other MVC member Evansville and head coach Dave Ragland.
• Ty Blake is the 12th Redbird student-athlete since 1962-63 to hail from the Bloomington/Normal area, and the first University High School alumnus to play for ISU since 1966-69 when Tom Taulbee was a member of the Redbird squad.
 

SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS

Saint Louis comes into the weekend riding a two-game win streak with home wins over Southern Indiana and Lincoln (Mo.), most recently topping Lincoln 102-66 on Wednesday evening.

Sincere Parker scored a game-high 20 points for SLU, while Gibson Jimerson scored 16, Mike Meadows 13 and Tim Dalger 12. Stef van Bussell pulled down nine rebounds to go with his seven points and game-high three blocked shots, while Meadows and Kellen Thames each grabbed three steals.

Three players are averaging double-figure scoring, led by Terrence Hargrove Jr., who averages 18.0 while Parker averages 14 and Jimerson 12.5. Hargrove leads the team by averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, while Jimerson and Meadows each have seven assists.

ONE OF A FEW SEVEN FOOTERS

When Brandon Lieb joined the squad for the 2023-24 season, the incoming transfer became the tallest player in program history. At 7-0 without shoes, and 7-1 with, he is one of just seven players in program history who have been 7-0 (or taller). Below is the list of players 84 inches or taller in the Redbird men's basketball history.

NATIONAL TEAM MEMBER

Late this past summer, Illinois State redshirt senior Harouna Sissoko played for the Mali National Team for his home country, helping his national team to a 1-2 finish at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. He scored 21 points over the three games, making 5-of-7 shots from long range (71.4%). His scoring average of 7.0 per game ranked 29th in the tournament, while his three-point percentage was best in the tournament.

LOW JERSEY NUMBERS 

In the team's season-opening win against Lourdes, the Redbirds put together a starting lineup of Luke Kasubke, Malachi Poindexter, Dalton Banks, Myles Foster, and Brandon Lieb. That starting lineup had a combined jersey total of 20 (0, 1, 3, 4, 12) which is the lowest starting lineup jersey combination since at least 2005-06. 

TALL IN THE MVC

Brandon Lieb's 7-1 stature has him as one of the tallest in the MVC, as there are just seven current MVC student-athletes that are 6-11 or taller, and Illinois State - by including Ryan Schmitt - is the only school in the conference with two players on the list.
 

1k CAREER SCORING

With his first basket in the opener against Lourdes, ISU senior Darius Burford scored his 1,000th career point. Now with 1,010 career points, Burford ranks 190th in all of NCAA Division I basketball in active career scoring. Having played his first two seasons at Elon where he scored 599 points, along with the 411 points in a year-plus at Illinois State. Redbird forward Kendall Lewis stands nine points away from joining Burford at the 1,000-point plateau.

ILLINOIS STATE VS THE SHOW ME STATE

With the addition of Lindenwood - who is in the second year of a four-year process into NCAA Division I transition - the state of Missouri has six schools that are in NCAA Division I, with Illinois State holding a 65-42 mark all-time against schools in the state.

REPRESENTING THE CHEESE STATE

This season Illinois State has three players from the Cheese State (Wisconsin) which is the most players in any season from that state. It is also the 11th-most players on a Redbird team from the same state (other than Illinois) in school history. Two teams - 1984-85 and 1973-74 - had seven players from the same state, the former with seven from Indiana and the latter with seven from Michigan.

RETURN TO HORTON

For many longtime Redbird fans, some of their fondest memories of Illinois State basketball come from games that were hosted inside historic Horton Field House. Since 1989, CEFCU Arena has served as host of Redbird basketball games but for one day only, ISU men's basketball returned to Horton Field House with Redbird legend Doug Collins in attendance on December 10 when the Redbirds topped SIU Edwardsville 77-71 in front of 3,420 loud ISU fans. Illinois State will host a second consecutive Return to Horton Game on December 9 when the Redbirds host Norfolk State University.
     Horton Fieldhouse – which was the home of the Redbird basketball program from its opening on December 4, 1963, through the previously last played contest on December 2, 1988. The arena played host to numerous classic ISU victories, including: a 91-81 win over ninth-ranked Tulsa during the 1984 season; an 81-76 win over fourth-ranked Indiana State – featuring future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird – during the 1977-78 season; and an 88-84 win over fourth-ranked UNLV in 1977.

LOCAL FLAIR

This season is the second straight that Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon has had a Bloomington/Normal student-athlete on his basketball team. This year Ty Blake, a 2023 University High School graduate is a member of the basketball squad, while Colton Sandage was a member of last season's team. Since 1962-63, there have been just 11 Redbird men's basketball players from the pair of towns.