Redbirds Return Home to Take on Salukis

NORMAL, Ill. -  After a pair of road games following the holiday break, the Illinois State Redbirds return home on Saturday, January 6 when the squad hosts the Southern Illinois Salukis, as both schools are 2-1 in MVC play this season.

QUICK HITTERS

• Today's game is the 167th all-time meeting between the two schools, which is the longest-running series for the Redbirds.
• Illinois State guard Dalton Banks spent three seasons on the roster at Southern Illinois before transferring to Normal. Southern Illinois assistant coach Brendan Mullins was an assistant coach on the Illinois State staff for two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19). 
• Against #8 Kentucky, the Illinois State Redbirds pulled down 24 offensive rebounds. Since 2010-11 only 13 other schools in NCAA Division I basketball had pulled down more offensive rebounds in a game against a nationally ranked school. 
• This season there have been three times where a school has pulled down 20 or more offensive rebounds against a nationally ranked opponent, and the first two coming when Arizona and Texas A&M pulled down 22 and 20 offensive rebounds against Florida Atlantic.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 27th-best in a game by a NCAA Division I basketball player this season.
• Illinois State is 5-1 this season when the Redbirds score 30 or more points in the paint, with the only loss coming at #8 Kentucky.
• 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.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

Southern Illinois comes into the game on Saturday riding a four-game win streak with victories over North Dakota State, Southern Indiana, UIC, and Belmont.

In the team's win over Belmont, 73-63, the Salukis had four players reach double-figure scoring, led by Xavier Johnson's 18 points. AJ Ferguson and Scottie Ebube scored 15 and 12 points off the bench, with Clarence Rupert scoring 11 points in 13 minutes of action. Ebubue pulled down eight rebounds, while Johnson gave out eight assists. 

For the season, the team is led by Johnson, who averages 24.1 points per game - good for the second-highest scoring average in the country this season. Johnson also leads the team with 83 assists, 24 steals, and 109 free throw makes (nearly half of the team's 220 free throw makes on the year).

Rupert is second on the team in scoring, pulling down 9.6 points per game, with AJ Ferguson and Jarrett Hensley average 8.7 and 8.4 points per game, respectively. Rupert's 6.1 rebounds per game and 18 total blocks lead the team, while Troy D'Amico's 4.3 rebounds per game are second on the team.

OFFENSIVELY REBOUNDING vs TOP-10

Against Kentucky on December 29, the Redbirds pulled down 24 offensive rebounds. Not only is that tied for the eighth-most in a game in program history, but it is also the 14th-most against an AP Top-10 ranked school since 2010-11, and one of just two non-power-conference schools on the list.

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.

REDBIRD-SALUKI CONNECTIONS

Illinois State guard Dalton Banks spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Southern Illinois before transferring to Normal for the 2023-24 season. Southern Illinois assistant coach Brendan Mullins spent two seasons on staff with Illinois State. 

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.

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 2-for-23 from the field and 1-15 from long range.

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 27th-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 season opener against Lourdes, ISU senior Darius Burford scored his 1,000th career point. Now with 1,176 career points, Burford ranks 184th 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 577 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 237th among active career scorers.

BIG CAREER BOARDING

With 665 career rebounds over his four-plus seasons as a collegiate basketball player, Illinois State fifth-year forward Kendall Lewis has the 65th-most career rebounds among active players in the NCAA. Redbird transfer Myles Foster's 446 career rebounds puts him in a tie for 304th 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.