NORMAL, Ill. – A furious late run for the Illinois State Redbirds came up just short, as ISU could not overcome a cold shooting night from the field in a 67-65 season-opening loss to the UT Martin Skyhawks on Monday evening.
Freshman Jack Daugherty, in his Redbird debut, scored a team-high 15 points, making five of his 12 shots from long range. His five makes are tied for the fourth-most three-point makes by a freshman in program history. Chase Walker scored a career-high 13 points for ISU, making 5-of-9 shots from the field, while Ty Pence scored a career-high 12 and Landon Wolf added 10 for the Redbirds.
Walker and Dalton Banks each had seven rebounds – a new career-high for Walker – while Pence also had a career-high with six boards. Banks gave out a game-high six assists, while adding a game-high three steals. Pence had three assists and two steals, both marking new career-highs for the sophomore.
The Redbirds have a quick turnaround and will face off against the North Dakota State Bison on Thursday, November 7 in Fargo, North Dakota.
Illinois State and UT Martin went back-and-forth early in the game, and the teams were tied at 15 with 9:46 to play; before ISU got three-pointers from Johnny Kinziger and Daugherty to put the Redbirds ahead by six. Daugherty made two additional three-pointers in the first half, each time stretching ISU's advantage to six before the visitors cut the gap to just two heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Redbirds shooting struggles came to a head to start the second half, as ISU missed its first 14 three-point tries in the second half, while UT Martin ran off a 22-6 run over the first 10:30 of the second half to stretch its lead to 14. The Redbirds came back with an immediate 7-0 run, and with ISU trailing by 11 with 1:35 left, the hosts ran off nine consecutive points in less than a minute to close the gap to two. The 'Birds twice closed the gap to a single point; however, could not overcome the entire deficit in the two-point loss.
ISU was 18-of-62 from the field (29.0%) in the game, while converting on 8-of-41 (19.5%) from long range. The Redbirds were 21-of-28 from the charity stripe and had a 13-to-12 assist-to-turnover ratio with six steals. UT Martin was 26-of-66 (39.4%) shooting in the game, while making 7-of-25 (28.0%) from long range.
TEAM NOTES
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Jack Daugherty
- Scored 15 points in his Redbird debut
- The five three-pointers he made in the game are tied for the fourth-most in a game by a freshman in program history
- Landon Wolf
- Scored in double-figures for his first time as a Redbird and the 15th time in his career
- Ty Pence
- Scored a career-high 12 points
- Reached double-figure scoring for the first time in his career
- Also set a career-high with his six rebounds, three assists, and two steals
- Chase Walker
- Reached double-figure scoring for the second time in his career
- His 13 points scored is a new career-high
- Pulled down a career-high seven rebounds
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