NORMAL, Ill. – Behind a 47-point second half – 25 of which came from Darius Burford – the Illinois State men's basketball team rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit, to topple the North Dakota State Bison by a 75-65 final score on Sunday night.
Burford scored 25 of his 28 points over the final 20 minutes, as he made 9-of-16 shots from the field (9-of-11 after halftime) and 10-of-12 free throws in the contest. Myles Foster scored a season-high 16 points, hitting on 6-of-10 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Dalton Banks was the third Redbird in double-figure scoring with 10 points, while dishing out a game-high five assists in the contest.
Jordan Davis led the Redbirds with eight rebounds, as ISU out-rebounded NDS 34-to-31 in the game. The 'Birds also made half of their 54 shots, the second time this season that ISU has made half of its shots or better, and had 42 points in the paint, improving to 5-0 on the year when the team scores 30+ paint points. The team's dozen assists against just nine turnovers is the fifth time this season that the Redbirds had an even or better assist-to-turnover ratio in a game.
ISU, now 7-4 on the season, returns to action on Thursday, December 21 when the team hosts the SEMO Redhawks inside CEFCU Arena with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
The Redbirds started strong behind Foster, as he scored eight of the first 10 ISU points in the game, helping the hosts to a five-point, 10-5 lead four minutes into the contest. Leading by three at 17-14 the Illinois State offense hit a dry spell as the Bison ran off 13 consecutive points to lead by 10 – the largest deficit that ISU had in the game. The Redbirds clawed back, climbing to within seven at intermission, trailing 35-28.
ISU fought back to within as few as two on three separate occasions through the first 13 minutes of the second half but could not push ahead into the lead until the hosts ran off 15 consecutive points over a four and a half minute stretch, turning a four-point, 58-54 deficit into an 11-point, 69-58 advantage. Leading by double-digits, the Redbirds iced the game at the charity stripe with six made free throws down the stretch to secure the double-digit non-conference win.
NDSU, now at 7-5 on the season, was led by Tajavis Miller who scored a season-high 18 points while Andrew Morgan scored 15, Damari Wheeler-Thomas 11, and Lance Waddles 10.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 1 Malachi Poindexter, 3 Dalton Banks, 4 Myles Foster, 10 Darius Burford, 22 Kendall Lewis
- This is the fifth consecutive game that this lineup has been used this season.
- Illinois State won the opening tip
- The first points of the game came from Myles Foster with a jumper with 19:37 to play in the first half
- The first subs for Illinois State were Brandon Lieb and Luke Kasubke with 14:38 to play in the first half.
- North Dakota State led 35-28 at halftime
- This was the first meeting between the two schools.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Luke Kasubke
- His two steals are a new season-high
- Dalton Banks
- Reached double-figure scoring for the third straight game, eighth time this season, and 19th time in his career
- Led the team in assists for the eighth time this season
- Myles Foster
- Reached double-figure scoring for the sixth time this season and 33rd time in his career.
- Scored a season-high 16 points
- His three assists tied a season-high
- Jordan Davis
- Tied a career-high (from his time at Wisconsin) with eight rebounds.
- Tied a career-high with two steals
- Darius Burford
- Scored in double-figures for the fifth consecutive game, the seventh time this season and 57th of his career
- His 28 points are a new season-high
- Scored 25 points in the second half
- Reached 20+ points for the second time this season and 15th time in his career
- Set a new career-high with 10 made free throws and tied a career-high with 12 free throw attempts
- His three steals are a new season-high, and one off his career-high
- Brandon Lieb
- Tied a career-high with three blocked shots
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