KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Redbirds started strong, making seven of their first eight shots of the contest, and led by Boden Skunberg's season-high 22 points, advanced to the Championship Game of the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational after a 79-69 win over the Charlotte 49ers on Thanksgiving day.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redbirds started out strong, making seven of their first eight shots, jumping ahead to a 10-point, 15-5 lead. After Charlotte closed the gap to as few as three with 7:08 to play, ISU extended the lead to a dozen with 1:10 to play in the first half, as the Birds cruised to a nine-point, 43-34 halftime lead, as the Redbirds led for all but 30 seconds of the half.
The second-half margin fluctuated between seven and 15 for the entire second half, as the Redbirds' largest lead came after a 7-0 run that pushed the score to 54-39, as Skunberg make back-to-back three-pointers and Ty'Reek Coleman a free throw. Charlotte would get only as close as seven in the game, coming with 1:31 to play in the game before the Redbirds iced the game at the charity stripe in the 10-point victory.
KEY STATISTICS
- The game was the first in program history on Thanksgiving day
- The Redbirds opened with the starting lineup of 10 Ty'Reek Coleman, 11 Johnny Kinziger, 14 Boden Skunberg, 22 Ty Pence, and 35 Chase Walker
- This is ISU's fourth game with this lineup
- ISU wore its gray uniforms for the second time this season
- The Redbirds are 6-2 all-time when wearing this set of gray uniforms, and 2-0 in 2025-26
- Charlotte won the opening tip
- ISU's first points of the game came from Chase Walker on a jump shot with 19:06 on the first-half clock
- Illinois State's first sub was Brandon Lieb a with 16:26 to play in the first half
- Illinois State led 43-34 at halftime
- ISU started the game by making seven of their first eight field goal attempts, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc
- The Redbirds had a 9-0 run in the first half, tied for the seventh-longest in-game run this season
- Illinois State improves to 2-0 all-time against Charlotte, and it is ISU's second win over a school from the American Athletic Conference in as many seasons (last season the team beat UAB at the Paradise Jam)
- The Redbirds are looking for their first MTE Tournament title since the 2010-11 season when ISU took first at the Global Sports Roundball Classic, hosted in Normal, Illinois, with wins over South Dakota, Louisiana-Monroe, and Jacksonville State
- Skunberg scored a season-high 22 points, reaching double-figure scoring for the third time this season
- The double-digit scoring game was the 60th of his collegiate career, while the 20-point mark is the 14th in his career
- His 10 rebounds are a season-high, and mark his first double-double as a Redbird, and the sixth of his career
- Walker scored 18 points, reaching double-figure scoring for the third time this season, and 30th time in his career
- The junior made 10-of-12 free throws in the game, and he now has the fifth-highest free throw percentage in the country (.833) among players with at least 30 makes and are 6' 9" or taller
- Coleman scored 13 points for his fifth game in double-figures in the scoring column
- His 100 points this season has him tie for the second-fastest freshman in program history to reach 100 points in a season (seventh game)
- Kinziger's four assists are a season-high, while his two steals ties his season-high
- Landon Wolf's eight points tied his season-high set previously against USC on November 14
- His three steals and three assists each tie a career-high
NEXT UP
The Redbirds have a short turnaround for their next game, as ISU will take on Furman in the title game of the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational with a 2 p.m. (CT) tip-off inside State Farm Field House.
