Redbirds Return Home to Battle Panthers

NORMAL, Ill. -  The Illinois State men's basketball team returns home on Wednesday evening, playing host to in-state foe Eastern Illinois.

QUICK HITTERS

• Last season was the first meeting between the Redbirds and Panthers for 24 years, and the Redbirds have won the last seven meetings between the teams.
• In the season opener against Lourdes, Darius Burford scored his 1,000th collegiate point, and he now ranks 211th in NCAA Division I among career scorers. Teammate Kendall Lewis stands four points shy of reaching the same plateau for his career.
• 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 1991-92.
• 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 and Eastern Illinois have played 115 games in the all-time series between the schools, one of eight opponents in ISU history to have series of 100+ games.
• Kendall Lewis' 592 career rebounds rank 71st in the NCAA among active players.
• Illinois State is 169-92 all-time against the 11 schools that currently make up the OVC.
• 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.
• Illinois State forward Brandon Lieb and Eastern Illinois forward Jermaine Hamlin were teammates at Illinois during the 2020-21 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.
• On Tuesday, November 7, Illinois State welcomed two future Redbirds into the ISU family, signing Jack Daugherty and Cade Norris to National Letters of Intent. Daugherty is a 6-8 forward from Brookfield, Wisconsin, while Norris is a 6-4 guard from Columbus, Ohio.

SPECIAL OLYMPIC PREGAME EVENT

Join Illinois State Athletics and Special Olympics Illinois from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the North Gym inside Horton Field House before the men's basketball game against Eastern Illinois for the Unified Rivalry Series game between ISU and EIU. Special Olympics' Unified Rivalry Series elevates inclusion to the next level! College students from across the United States join forces with Special Olympics athletes to compete respectfully against their rival schools. The Unified Rivalry Series brings together individuals with and without intellectual disabilities on the playing field, fostering an inclusive culture on college campuses through sports. Admission is free with or without a basketball game ticket.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

Eastern Illinois comes into the mid-week game with a 1-2 overall record with a win over Monmouth College and losses at Illinois and Loyola Chicago.

In the team's most recent game, an 89-65 loss to Loyola, Jordan Booker scored a team-best 12 points, while Jermaine Hamlin scored 11. Kooper Jacobi had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Booker dished out a trio of assists while nabbing a game-high four steals.

The Panthers have two players averaging in double-figure scoring through the first three games of the season, as Jacobi averages 11.7 while Booker averages 10.3. Jacobi's 9.0 rebounds per game paces EIU, while Booker has dished out a team-best seven assists. Booker's nine steals leads the team, while Kyndall Davis has two blocks to pace the Panthers.

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 1991-92.  

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.
 

BIG SERIES TOTALS

Illinois State has a long and storied basketball history and has faced off against eight different opponents over 100 times each, including Wednesday evening opponent Eastern Illinois.

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.

BIG CAREER BOARDING

With 592 career rebounds over his four-plus seasons as a collegiate basketball player, Illinois State fifth-year forward Kendall Lewis has the 71st-most career rebounds among active players in the NCAA. 

ILLINOIS STATE VS THE OVC

There are 11 schools currently in the OVC, including the most recent addition of Western Illinois. Of the nearly a dozen schools, the Redbirds have faced off against 10 of them with a 169-92 overall record. Of the 261 games against schools from the conference, 221 have come against either Eastern Illinois or Western Illinois. Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon is 2-1 all-time against teams from the conference, with a second game against an OVC opponent - SEMO - coming later in the non-conference season.

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.