NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Redbirds put five players into double-figure scoring, led by 19 points from Myles Foster, as the 'Birds led for over 33 minutes of the 40-minute, 77-67 win over the Belmont Bruins on Tuesday evening.
Myles Foster made 6-of-12 shots from the field and 7-of-8 free throws en route to his 19 points, while Darius Burford and Johnny Kinziger each scored 13 points. Dalton Banks and Jordan Davis both scored 11 points, with each of Banks' coming in the second half.
Foster pulled down 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season while Kinziger pulled down a career-high seven rebounds. The Redbirds had 18 assists in the win, tied for the second most in a game this season for ISU, led by Foster who set a season-high with five helpers, as Burford had four.
The Redbirds, now at 10-10 on the season and 4-5 in MVC play, face off at Evansville on Saturday afternoon in a 1 p.m. tip-off inside the Ford Center.
The teams traded the lead back and forth five times over the first seven and a half minutes of the game. Belmont pushed ahead to a three-point lead after a Keishawn Davidson three-pointer with 12:46; however, the Redbirds answered back immediately with a 10-0 run, which was opened and closed by Foster, as ISU would not give up the lead for the remainder of the game. The Redbird lead extended to as many as 16 points at 39-23 in the first half, before seeing the margin cut to 11 at 41-30 heading into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half Belmont chipped away at the deficit, getting as close as four with 4:31 to play in the game; however, the Redbirds closed strong in the 10-point, 77-67 victory.
Malik Dia scored a game-high-tying 19 points to lead the Bruins, as Jayce Willingham and Cade Tyson each added 14 and Davidson a dozen.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 3 Dalton Banks, 4 Myles Foster, 5 Jordan Davis, 10 Darius Burford, and 22 Kendall Lewis
- This is the third time this season that this lineup has been used
- ISU has used seven different starting lineups this season, which is tied for the 16th-most in the country this season
- Belmont won the opening tip
- The first Illinois State points of the game came from Darius Burford with a mid-paint jumper with 19:22 to play in the opening half
- It was the second consecutive game where he scored the team's first points of the game
- The first subs for Illinois State were Johnny Kinziger and Chase Walker with 15:48 to play in the first half
- Illinois State led 41-30 at halftime.
- The game was Illinois State's Coaches vs Cancer Suits and Sneakers game
- The Redbirds had a season-high +12 assist-to-turnover ratio
- That was the highest by an ISU squad since the team had a +18 margin against Evansville on January 21, 2022
- ISU improved to 3-0 when wearing their grey jerseys
- The Redbirds had their 11th game with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, and have had a positive number in five of the last six games and the last four in a row
- The win evens ISU's record back to 10-10, and are 4-5 in MVC play, alongside Belmont in the standings.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Malachi Poindexter
- Tied a season-high with three assists while scoring seven points
- Dalton Banks
- Has started all 20 games for the Redbirds this season, and 35 games during his career
- Scored in double-figures for the 12th time this season and 23rd time in his career with 11 points, all of which came in the second half
- Myles Foster
- Has started 19 of the team's 20 games this season, and has 53 career starts in 106 games played
- Reached double-figure scoring in the first half, his second straight game scoring at least 10 points
- He has 11 double-figure scoring games this season and 38 in his career
- Dished out a season-high five assists
- Pulled down double-digit rebounds for the fourth time this season
- He has the fourth-most double-digit rebounding games in the MVC this season
- His double-double was the third of the season for the senior
- He is tied for the third-most double-doubles in the MVC this season
- Jordan Davis
- Started his fourth consecutive game, and now has 22 career starts between Illinois State and Wisconsin
- Scored in double-figures for the second time this season and seventh time of his career
- Each of his double-figure scoring games this season have come against Belmont, as he scored 18 points at Belmont two weeks earlier
- Darius Burford
- Started his 17th game of the season, and 87th game of his collegiate career
- Scored in double-figures for the third consecutive game, the 13th time this season, and 63rd time in his career
- His four assists are a new season-high
- Johnny Kinziger
- Pulled down a career-high seven rebounds, his second straight game setting a career-high in rebounds
- Reached double-figure scoring for the fifth time of his career, missing his career-high of 14 by just one point
- His free throw makes (5) and attempts (6) are new career-highs
- Kendall Lewis
- Started his 14th game of the season, and 98th of his collegiate career
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