Redbirds Return to Illinois to Battle Flames

CHICAGO -  After an eight-day break after competing at the Gulf Coast Showcase, the Illinois State men's basketball team returns to action on Thursday evening when the Redbirds travel north to take on the UIC Flames in the MVC opener for each squad.

QUICK HITTERS

• With his six steals against Long Beach State, senior guard Dalton Banks recorded the fourth-most steals in a game in program history. His total is also the ninth-best in a game by a NCAA Division I basketball player this season.
• In the season opener against Lourdes, Darius Burford scored his 1,000th collegiate point, and he now ranks 216th in NCAA Division I among career scorers. Teammate Kendall Lewis scored his 1,000th career point on November 15 against Eastern Illinois, and he stands 225th among active players in career scoring.
• UIC has four members of their coaching staff with ties to Illinois State, including three - Luke Yaklich '98, Tony Wills '17, and Madison Williams '01 - who graduated as a Redbird.
• 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.
• Kendall Lewis' 620 career rebounds rank 71st in the NCAA among active players.
• Ryan Pedon is one of 55 coaches in their second season at their schools, including other MVC member Evansville and head coach Dave Ragland.
• Illinois State is 412-336 all-time against schools inside the state of Illinois, with five of the other dozen schools having series of at least 90 games.
• The Redbirds are also 456-386 all-time against schools in the MVC.
• Illinois State is 9-10 all-time on November 30, with three of those losses coming from teams ranked inside of the top-two in the national rankings.
• 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.

SCOUTING UIC

UIC enters the mid-week battle with a 5-2 record through the first seven games of the season, with wins over Little Rock, Loyola, Aurora, Middle Tennessee, and George Washington.

In the team's last game, a 58-57 loss at the hands of UNCG in the championship game of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, the Flames got a team-high 14 points from Isaiah Rivera, with nine points from both Filip Skobalj and Steven Clay. Toby Okani grabbed a game-high-tying nine rebounds, while CJ Jones dished out five assists.

This season UIC has three players averaging in double-figure scoring, led by Rivera's 16.1 point per game average. Okani (13.4) and Jones (10.1) each average in double-figures, with Clay averaging 8.1. Okani's 8.6 rebounds per game is second-highest in the MVC, while Skobalj is second on the team at 4.3 boards per contest. Jones' 32 assists and 11 steals lead the team, while Okani has a MVC-best 19 blocked shots in his seven games.

REDBIRD TIES

There are four members of the UIC men's basketball coaching staff that have ties to Illinois State, including three that have degrees from the school. Head coach Luke Yaklich ('98), assistant coach Tony Wills ('17), and director of player development Madison Williams ('20) all graduated from Illinois State, while assistant coach Will Veasley spent three seasons on staff with the Redbirds, two seasons as video coordinator and a third season as director of basketball operations.
 

THIEF

Against Long Beach State, Illinois State senior guard Dalton Banks grabbed six steals, which are tied for the seventh-most in a game in program history.

.

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 1982-83.

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 620 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. 

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.