ISU Basketball to Returns to its Roots Inside Horton Field House

NORMAL, Ill. -  On Saturday, December 9, the Illinois State men's basketball squad returns to a place it called home from 1963-1988, as the Redbirds play host to the Norfolk State Spartans inside Horton Field House.

QUICK HITTERS

• Both Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon and Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones each played NCAA Division III basketball, as Pedon played for the College of Wooster, ending his career in 1999-00 while Jones played for the State University of New York New Paltz, finishing his career in 2000-01.
• The Redbirds' 6-3 record through nine games is tied for the program's highest over the first nine games since the 2009-10 squad went 7-2 over the opening nine games of the season.
• ISU freshman Johnny Kinziger is one of three freshmen in NCAA Division I basketball with shooting percentages of at least 40% from three-point range and 90% from the free throw line, with 10 makes at each distance.
• When Illinois State committed just seven fouls against Northern Kentucky on December 6, it tied the single-game school record for fewest fouls in a game and is the seventh-fewest in a game this season involving two NCAA Division I schools.
• 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.
• Against Murray State, the Redbirds had a +8 assist-to-turnover margin. The margin was the team's highest since January 21, 2022, and the 10th time that ISU has had a +8 margin since 2018-19.
• 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.
• For the first time since 2017-18, Illinois State is receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
• 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 15th-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 206th 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 222nd among active players in career scoring.
• With Illinois State's season-opening 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 1978-79.
• 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.

SCOUTING NORFOLK STATE

The Spartans enter the weekend game on a two-game win streak after topping VCU by a 63-60 final score on December 1. 

In the win over the Rams, Norfolk State got 17 points from both Jamarii Thomas and Allen Betrand, while Christian Ings scored a dozen points. Jaylani Darden had a team-best six rebounds for the Spartans, as Thomas' three steals were the most on the squad.

Over the season, with a 6-3 overall record, Norfolk State is led in scoring by Thomas, who averages 17.9 points per game with a team-best 36 assists and 24 steals. Betrand is also in double-figures at 11.2 points per game while a pair of others - Ings (8.5) and Kuluel Mading (8.0) each are two points off the scoring plateau.

Mading has a team-best 11 blocked shots, as Darden is second on the team with a dozen steals. Thomas' 15 made three-point baskets and 56 made free throws lead the team, as does his 87.5 free throw percentage. 

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.

YOUNG PERCENTAGES

This season, Redbird freshman Johnny Kinziger has made 40 percent of his three-point attempts and over 90 percent of his free throws. There are just three freshman student-athletes in the country with those percentage and at least 10 makes at both; including Johnny on that list is Davidson's Bobby Durkin and Kentucky's Reed Sheppard.

SMALL FOULS

When Illinois State hosted the Northern Kentucky Norse on Wednesday, December 6, the Redbirds committed just seven fouls for the 40-minute game. That is tied for the lowest single-game foul total in program history and is tied for the seventh-lowest in the country against a Division I opponent this season.

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 15th-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 1,010 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.

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.