Pizza Payaa to Host Basketball Coaches Show Tonight

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Basketball Coaches Show, presented by The O'Brien Auto Team, featuring Illinois State head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon and women's basketball head coach Kristen Gillespie will air tonight live from Pizza Payaa in Normal.

Fans are invited to watch Monday's show live at Pizza Payaa, located at 107 E. Beaufort Street in Normal; however, for those unable to attend the show in person, it will be broadcast live on WJBC 1230 AM, the Varsity Network, and on the Illinois State Athletics Facebook page.

Filling in for head women's basketball coach Kristen Gillespie will be former Illinois State standout and current assistant coach Katrina Beck. That segment of the show, hosted by Greg Halbleib, starts at 6 p.m. and Beck will be joined by ISU senior guard Taylor Veach. Illinois State women's basketball returns to Normal after competing in San Juan at the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout over the Thanksgiving holiday against Rice, East Carolina and Wake Forest. This week, the Redbird open Missouri Valley Conference play on Wednesday against UNI, before returning home to host Eastern Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m. at CEFCU Arena.

Head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon's portion of the show follows at 6:45 p.m., hosted by John Fitzgerald and Mike Matthews. Pedon will be joined this week by junior guard Ty Pence. The St. Joseph, Illinois, native scored a career-high 20 points and tied his career-high with 10 rebounds against Furman to record the second double-double of his career and earn MVP honors at the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational.

With its win over Furman, the Illinois State men's team won the program's first in-season Multi-Team Event title since the 2010-11 season. The Redbirds also picked up a 79-69 win over Charlotte on Thanksgiving Day to improve to 6-2 on the year. ISU will host a pair of games this week on Doug Collins Court at CEFCU Arena, first against Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and then against Chicago State at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.

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