NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's basketball team fell victim to a cold shooting night in the final game of the 2024 calendar year, dropping a 73-67 contest to the UIC Flames in the second MVC game of the season for each squad.
Malachi Poindexter scored a season- and game-high 20 points for the Redbirds, making 12-of-14 free throws and 2-of-6 from long range for the third 20+-point game of his ISU career. Ty Pence scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Dalton Banks had nine points and a game-high five assists. With no turnovers in the game, Banks now has nine assists and no turnovers over his last two games.
Jordan Davis pulled down a team-high five rebounds, while Banks had two steals and a blocked shot.
ISU (8-5) takes to the road on Thursday, January 2, when the team travels to Murray, Kentucky, to take on the Murray State Racers in a 7 p.m. tip-off inside CFSB Center.
The Redbirds came out strong and used a 12-0 run to take an early 14-2 lead through the first five minutes of the game, as Chase Walker scored six points over the first two minutes of the contest. UIC fought back and chipped away at the deficit, closing the gap to as few as one, before the Redbirds took a 35-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Flames took their first lead of the game on a three-pointer with 16:45 to play in the contest, the start of a UIC 6-0 run, the middle part of a 20-8 run, one that sent the hosts to a seven-point advantage at the halfway point of the second period. UIC's lead grew to as many as nine, before ISU fought back but fell 73-67.
ISU's 23-of-58 shooting (39.7 percent) is the second-lowest of the season, while the squad converted on less than 30 percent from long range for just the third time this season. UIC was 24-of-52 for the game – 12-of-26 in both the first and second halves – and made 8-of-17 from long range in the game.
UIC had four players in double-figure scoring, led by 16 points from Sasa Ciani, while Javon Jackson scored 14, Ahmad Henderson II with 12 and Tyem Freeman with 10.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 1 Malachi Poindexter, 3 Dalton Banks, 4 Landon Wolf, 22 Ty Pence, and 35 Chase Walker
- It was the first time this season the Redbirds have used this lineup
- The Redbirds won the opening tip
- The first points of the game came from Chase Walker on a lay-up with 19:42 to play in the first half
- It was his team-leading fifth time he scored ISU's first points of the game this season
- The first sub for Illinois State was Caden Boser with 17:56 to play in the first half
- Illinois State led 35-33 at halftime
- ISU's +9 assist-to-turnover ratio (14-to-5) is the team's largest this season against a NCAA Division I opponent
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Malachi Poindexter
- Scored a season-high 20 points, his third 20-point scoring effort of his ISU career
- Has scored in double-figures twice this season, and 29 times in his career
- Set career-highs by going 12-of-14 from the free throw line
- The 12 free throw makes are tied for the sixth-most in a game in CEFCU Arena / Redbird Arena history
- Dalton Banks
- Led the Redbirds with five assists with no turnovers
- Has a combined nine assists with no turnovers over his last two games
- Ty Pence
- Scored 10 points for his seventh double-figure scoring game of the season
- Cameron Barnes
- Tied a career-high with four rebounds
- Caden Boser
- Tied a season-high with two assists
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