NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State freshman Johnny Kinziger added to his impressive freshman list of accolades on Wednesday evening, as the De Pere, Wisconsin, native drained a 15-foot baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds to play, securing a 75-74 win over Missouri State.
Kinziger and Malachi Poindexter each scored 20 points for ISU, while Myles Foster scored 16 points – including the 1,000th of his college career in the first half – while Kendall Lewis added 10 points. Foster and Lewis grabbed 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, as the pair recorded double-doubles in the same game for the third time this season.
Dalton Banks dished out a team-high six assists, with the Redbirds sporting an 18-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio in the game – tied for the best assist-to-turnover ratio in a game this season. Foster had a team-best two blocked shots while Banks led the team with a pair of steals.
The Redbirds close out the 2023-24 regular season on Sunday afternoon when the squad travels to northwest Indiana to take on the Valparaiso Beacons in a 1 p.m. tip-off inside the Athletics Recreation Center.
ISU led for over 31 minutes of game-play time, with nearly 13 of those minutes coming in the first half. The Redbirds pushed out to a first-half lead of as many as seven points with 9:07 to play in the first half after back-to-back Kinziger jumpers; however, Missouri State followed with a 22-9 run to stretch its lead to six points with 51 seconds to play in the period. The Redbirds closed on a 3-0 run with a trio of free throws to close the halftime gap to three at 36-33.
The Redbirds scored the first nine points of the second half to take a six-point lead – a lead they extended to as many as 10 points with 5:15 to play. There was no fight in the Bears, as they had a 13-2 run to take a one-point lead with 51 seconds to play in the game. A pair of Lewis free throws gave ISU the lead again before Alston Mason drained a driving lay-in to put the visitors back ahead by one. The Redbirds called a timeout with 2.7 seconds remaining before Banks found Kinziger on the in-bounds play for the game-winning jumpshot.
Missouri State had three players score at least 20 points in the losing effort, as Donovan Clay and Mason each scored 21 for the Bears, while NJ Benson scored 20 points with a game-high 14 rebounds. Â
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 1 Malachi Poindexter, 3 Dalton Banks, 4 Myles Foster, 11 Johnny Kinziger, and 22 Kendall Lewis
- This is the seventh consecutive game that this lineup has been used to open a game
- Illinois State won the opening tip
- The first Illinois State points of the game came from Johnny Kinziger with a lay-up with 19:46 to play in the first half
- Tonight was the second consecutive game where he scored the team's first points of the game
- The first sub for Illinois State was Luke Kasubke with 16:22 to play in the first half
- Missouri State led 36-33 at the half
- The teams' +12 assist-to-turnover margin is tied for the highest this season
- Myles Foster's and Kendall Lewis' double-doubles in the same game is the third time this season that it has happened, and the second time in the last three games
- The six turnovers mark the ninth time that ISU has single-digit turnovers this season, which is tied for the most in a season since 1988-89
- The Redbirds improve to 15-15 on the season, and 9-10 in the MVC
- Ryan Pedon improves to 3-0 all-time against Missouri State, and the Redbirds are 4-0 against MSU's this season (2-0 against both Missouri State and Murray State)
- ISU leads the all-time series 49-35 against Missouri State, and hold a 31-9 mark in home games in the series
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Malachi Poindexter
- Made his 23rd start of the season and 48th start of his collegiate career
- Reached double-figure scoring for the 12th time this season, and the third time in his last four games
- Scored 20+ points for the second time in his last four games, and for the second time in his career
- Dalton Banks
- Has started all 30 games for the Redbirds this season, and 45 games during his career
- Led the Redbirds in assists for the 20th time this season
- Myles Foster
- Has started 29 of the team's 30 games this season, and has 63 career starts in 116 games played
- Scored his 1,000th career point on a free throw with 13:57 remaining in the first half
- Recorded his eighth double-double of the season
- Reached double-figure rebounding for the third consecutive game, and the seventh time in his last 11 games
- Scored in double-figures for the 20th time this season and 57th time in his career
- Johnny Kinziger
- Made his seventh collegiate start
- Reached double-figure scoring for the sixth straight game, and 12th time this season
- Scored 20+ points for the second time in his last three games, and the third time in his last five
- Hit the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds remaining on the clock
- Kendall Lewis
- Started his 24th game of the season, and 1087th of his collegiate career
- Reached double-figure scoring for the 10th time this season
- Pulled down double-digit rebounds for the sixth time this season, and four
- Chase Walker
- Dished out a career-high two assists
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