ISU Puts a Cap on Non-Conference Season Friday at #8 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. -  Illinois State travels to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the eighth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in the final non-conference game of the season for the Redbirds.

QUICK HITTERS

• Kentucky leading scorer Antonio Reeves started his career at Illinois State, scoring 1,195 points over his three years with the Redbirds. In the year between graduating from Ohio State where he was a manager for the Buckeyes, and joining the Illinois State men's basketball staff as Chief of Staff, Mike Mastroianni was an assistant for his father's team at Quaker Valley High School. One of his student-athletes that he mentored while with Quaker Valley was current Kentucky guard Adou Thiero.
• With Illinois State's 8-4 record, the Redbirds are tied for the program's best 12-game start since the 2012-13 squad opened the year 9-3. The team's eight NCAA Division I wins before Christmas is also the most since the 2012-13 team opened the year with nine pre-Christmas victories.
• With his 25 points in the second half against North Dakota State on December 17, Illinois State senior guard Darius Burford has the ninth-highest scoring half in program history, and the highest since Osiris Eldridge scored 26 points in the second half at Drake on January 17, 2010.
• Since 1992-93 there have been just eight freshman student-athletes to shoot 49% or better on field goal attempts, 44% or better from long distance, and 87% or better from the charity stripe. ISU freshman Johnny Kinziger is among those, along with former Duke standout Kyrie Irving, former Marquette standout Steve Novak, and current Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard.
• When Illinois State had a +8 turnover margin against Murray State on December 3, it was the highest by the program since January 21, 2022.
• With a field goal percentage of .581 against UIC on November 30, the Redbirds had their ninth-best field goal percentage in a game since 2010-11, and that high percentage came against the school that had the fifth-best defensive field goal percentage in the country.
• Illinois State and Northern Kentucky went back and forth during their game on December 6, and the lead traded hands 19 times, which is the sixth-most in a game for the Redbirds since the 2003-04 season.
• Late in the second half against North Dakota State, Illinois State scored 15 consecutive points, which is tied for the longest scoring streak for the Redbirds since February of 2021. Three current Redbirds played in that last game with a longer scoring streak: Harouna Sissoko and Nik Stadelman suited up for the Redbirds, while Dalton Banks, playing for Southern Illinois, was on the receiving end of the 18-0 ISU run as a member of the Salukis.
• Illinois State started the season with a 2-0 MVC record for the first time since 2017-18, and for the 15th time in program history.
• 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 tied for the 24th-best in a game by a NCAA Division I basketball player this season.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY

Kentucky comes into its final non-conference game of the season on Friday night with a 9-2 overall record and riding a three-game win streak. 

In the team's most recent win, a 95-76 victory over in-state rival Louisville, Antonio Reeves scored a game-high 30 points, while Tre Mitchell scored 18 points with a dozen rebounds. Justin Edwards (13), Rob Dillingham (12), and Reed Sheppard (11) also each reached double-figure scoring in the win. Sheppard dished out a game-high 11 assists, while Mitchell had three blocked shots in the win.

This season it is Reeves - an Illinois State transfer - who leads the Wildcats in scoring at 18.3 points per game. Five others: Dillingham (14.2), Mitchell (13.2), Sheppard (12.6), D.J. Wagner (11.7) each average double-figure points, with Edwards just off the pace at 9.9 points per game. 

REDBIRD-WILDCAT TIES

Kentucky leading scorer Antonio Reeves started his career at Illinois State, scoring 1,195 points over his three years with the Redbirds. In the year between graduating from Ohio State where he was a manager for the Buckeyes, and joining the Illinois State men's basketball staff as Chief of Staff, Mike Mastroianni was an assistant for his father's team at Quaker Valley High School. One of his student-athletes that he mentored while with Quaker Valley was current Kentucky guard Adou Thiero.

STRONG START

With Illinois State's 8-4 record, the Redbirds are tied for the program's best 12-game start since the 2012-13 squad opened the year 9-3. The team's eight NCAA Division I wins before Christmas is also the most since the 2012-13 team opened the year with nine pre-Christmas victories.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING

Like Will Ferrell's character Frank "The Tank" Ricard yelled during the movie "Old School", Illinois State went streaking on Sunday against North Dakota State. Late in the second half, Illinois State scored 15 consecutive points, which is tied for the longest scoring streak for the Redbirds since February of 2021. Three current Redbirds played in that last game with a longer scoring streak: Harouna Sissoko and Nik Stadelman suited up for the Redbirds, while Dalton Banks, playing for Southern Illinois, was on the receiving end of the 18-0 ISU run as a member of the Salukis.

BIG HALF

After scoring three points in the opening 20 minutes against North Dakota State on December 17, Illinois State guard Darius Burford erupted over the second half, scoring 25 points, making 9-of-11 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. His quarter-century scoring half was last accomplished by a Redbird when Osiris Eldridge scored 26 points in the second at Drake on January 17, 2010. Burford's total stands tied as the ninth-highest scoring half in program history since 1971-72.

YOUNG PERCENTAGES

This season, Redbird freshman Johnny Kinziger has made just under half of his field goal tries, over 44 percent of his three-point attempts and over 87 percent of his free throws. There are just eight freshman student-athletes in NCAA Division I basketball since 1992-93 with those percentage and at least 15 made three-pointers. Of that group, includes Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic, who shared Wisconsin Co-Mr. Basketball honors with Kinziger.

FAMILIAR START

When Illinois State basketball signed high school senior Ty Pence, he was the highest rated player to sign with ISU since Osiris Eldridge - a player who ended his career as the program's fifth leading scorer. Eldridge and Pence also share something else in common, and that is a slow start. Prior to him scoring his 1,838 points, Eldridge opened his Redbird career by going 1-for-23 from the field and 1-for-13 from distance. Pence's career arc is off to a similar trajectory, as the St. Joseph native is 1-for-18 from the field and 0-12 from long range.

REDBIRDS vs RANKED OPPONENTS

Kentucky comes into the Friday evening game ranked eighth in the most recent AP poll. The Redbirds are 1-1 all-time against the eighth-ranked team, falling against Indiana on November 23, 2007, before winning over Wichita State in the 2016 MVC Championship. In all, the Redbirds have 13 wins over nationally ranked opponents, including two wins against teams ranked fourth, 14th, and 25th.

STRONG MARGINS

Against Murray State, the Illinois State Redbirds had a +8 assist-to-turnover margin. That is the highest total since January 21, 2022 against Evansville. Below are the 10 most recent occurrences of an assist-to-turnover ratio of +8 or better against Division I opponents.
 

SHOOTING WELL AGAINST A GOOD DEFENSE

On Thursday, November 30, the Illinois State Redbirds made 58.1 percent of their shots against the UIC Flames. UIC came into the game with the fifth-best field goal percentage defense in the country. Since 2010-11  the Redbirds have only had eight games against a NCAA Division I opponent with a better field goal percentage than against the Flames. What makes the Thursday percentage so impressive is that UIC came into the game with the fifth-best defensive field goal percentage in the NCAA. Below are the ten highest single-game field goal percentages since 2010-11, and where the school sat in the NCAA rankings for defensive field goal percentage (with the exception of UC Santa Barbara, as the game was the season-opener and there were no NCAA rankings at that point of the season).

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. Additionally, his steal total is tied for the 24th-most in the NCAA this season in a single game.

NON-STATE STATE SCHOOLS

There are 362 NCAA Division I schools (including the transitional schools) playing basketball this season. Of those schools, 67 have "State" in its name. Of that 67, 31 are direct state schools (ie, Illinois State), while five others have the state in their name, but with a descriptor (Central Connecticut, East Tennessee, Southeast Missouri). The remainder of the schools - 31 total - have no direct state reference in its name (Boise State, Wichita State, etc.) but use State in the name. Of that group, the Redbirds will play four games against those schools during the season, including Long Beach, Wright, and Murray.
 

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 1,149 career points, Burford ranks 186th 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 550 points in a year-plus at Illinois State. Redbird forward Kendall Lewis reached the milestone in the second half of the game against Eastern Illinois on November 15 and stands 232nd among active career scorers.

BIG CAREER BOARDING

With 654 career rebounds over his four-plus seasons as a collegiate basketball player, Illinois State fifth-year forward Kendall Lewis has the 69th-most career rebounds among active players in the NCAA. Redbird transfer Myles Foster's 430 career rebounds puts him in a tie for 334th on that same list.

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.

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.