NORMAL, Ill. -Â The Illinois State Redbirds host the Bradley Braves on Wednesday night in the annual I-74 Rivalry in a 7 p.m. tip-off inside CEFCU Arena.
QUICK HITTERS
• The game is Illinois State's third time in its last four games in which the team has faced a team tied for the top spot in the MVC standings.
• There are 36 current NCAA student-athletes who have two consecutive seasons with at least 20 assists, 20 blocks, and 20 steals, and two of them - Illinois State's Kendall Lewis and Bradley's Malevy Leons - are in this game as the only ones in the MVC to have done it in the last two seasons.
• The Redbirds are third in NCAA Division I in free throw percentage, making 79.9 percent of their free tries during the season.
• Illinois State senior forward Kendall Lewis is one of nine players in NCAA Division I with at least 21 blocks, 33 assists, 36 steals and 250 points this season.
• Redbird guard Malachi Poindexter has made 41-of-44 free throws this season and is one of just six players in the country with just three misses with at least 40 makes.
• Illinois State seventh leading scorer (Liam McChesney) averages 6.7 points per game, which is the highest seventh-leading scorer in the MVC this season.
• This season the Redbirds have seven different players who have led the team in scoring, including a seven-game span in which ISU had seven different leading scorers.
• There are 23 men's basketball players across NCAA Division I that have made at least 30 free throws in conference play with two misses or fewer, and one of those 23 is on the ISU squad as Kendall Lewis is 30-of-32 in MVC play.
• This season the Illinois State Redbirds have played in four overtime games, which is tied for the fifth-most by a program during the season, trailing only five overtime games from Texas Southern, UCF, and Manhattan, and the six from Idaho State.
• As Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon adjusts his starting lineups to find the proper mix, the Redbirds have seen 11 different starting lineup combinations in 25 games, which is tied for the seventh-most different starting lineups in the country this season.
• On January 25 when Illinois State faced off at Bradley, the Redbirds had a starting lineup group whose numbers added to 27, the second-lowest starting lineup jersey combination for ISU since 2010-11.
• When Illinois State topped Missouri State by 10 in overtime on January 11, it marked the fourth-largest scoring margin in an overtime game in Redbird history.
SCOUTING THE BRAVES
Bradley comes into the second meeting of the season with the Redbirds on a four-game win streak including a 77-69 win at UNI on Saturday.
In the win over the Panthers, the Braves made 16-of-26 three-point baskets, and were led by Malevy Leons who scored 19 points while Rienk Mast scored 18, Connor Hickman 17, and Duke Deen 11. Deen and Zek Montgomery each pulled down a team-leading five rebounds, while Deen dished out four assists.
For the year the Braves put three players in double-figure scoring, led by Mast who averages 13.9 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game. Leons averages 11.8 points and Deen 11.2 for Bradley. Deen's 71 assists pace the team, while Leons leads the team with 40 blocked shots and 39 steals.Â
Deen's 59 three-point baskets are the most on the team, as Leons has made 40.4 percent of his long-range tries for the top spot for the Braves.
PUTTING THE FREE IN FREE THROWS
This season, having made 345 of 432 free throws, Illinois State ranks third in NCAA Division I in the category. There have been just 21 schools in NCAA Division I history to finish a season with a free throw percentage at .800 or better. The school record for season free throw percentage is .775 from the 2001-02 season and the MVC record is .797 set by Missouri State in 2021-22.
STRONG OVERALL NUMBERS
Later in the notes we talk about how last season ISU forward Kendall Lewis had one of just four total seasons in program history with 30+ blocks, steals, and assists. Lewis is back to his same tricks this season, as he is one of 86 players in the country with at least 20 assists, steals and blocks. Additionally, he is one of just nine players in NCAA Division I with at least 21 blocks, 36 steals, and 33 assists this season, while scoring at least 250 points.
NEAR PERFECTION
This season Illinois State guard Malachi Poindexter has made 41-of-44 tries from the charity stripe. That gives him a percentage of .932, which is the fifth-highest in the country for student-athletes with at least 40 free throw makes.
AWARD WINNING KNIGHT
Illinois State fifth-year guard Seneca Knight was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week, announced by the conference office on Monday, October 30. Knight averaged 21.5 points per game for Illinois State, as the Redbirds went 1-1 with an overtime loss on the road at rival Bradley on Wednesday before returning and topping MVC-leader Southern Illinois on Sunday. He made 13-of-20 shots for the week (65.0%), was 4-of-5 from long range, and 13-of-15 (86.7%) from the charity stripe, as he also averaged four rebounds on the week with two assists, two blocks, and two steals.
SEVENTH HEAVEN
This season Illinois State has seven different student-athletes averaging near seven points per game and the Redbirds' Liam McChesney leads all seventh scorers in the conference with a season scoring average of 6.7 points per game (of those who have played in at least half of their team's games).
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