DES MOINES, Iowa – Making nine of their first 10 shots to start the second half, the Illinois State Redbirds turned a four-point halftime lead into a 17-point win over Drake on Monday night, topping the Bulldogs 73-56, including out-scoring the hosts 42-29 in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
ISU and Drake traded the lead seven times in the first half; and the last change came when the Redbirds used a 13-2 run to turn a four-point deficit into a seven-point advantage with 6:47 to play in the first half. The host Bulldogs got as close as two late in the half, before the Birds took a four-point, 31-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Redbirds came out firing to start the second half, making their first six shots, and nine of the first 10, jumping out to a 17-point, 56-39 lead with 12:55 to play in the game. The ISU advantage reached its peak at 20 (68-48) with just over four minutes to play in the game, with the Birds cruising to the 17-point win.
KEY STATISTICS / NOTES
- 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 eighth game with this lineup, and this group is now 6-2 on the season
- ISU wore its throwback red uniforms for the fifth time this season, picking up its second consecutive win in the jersey
- The Redbirds picked up their 11th win before December 31, the most wins before the new year since 2008-09
- ISU is 11-3 for the first time since the 2008-09 season
- Illinois State's win snapped a 10-game Drake win streak, and the Redbirds now lead the all-time series against the Bulldogs 66-42
- With Landon Wolf reaching double-figures in the scoring column, the Redbirds now have an MVC-high 11 players who have scored double-digits in a game this season
- Drake won the opening tip
- ISU's first points of the game came from Ty'Reek Coleman on a three-pointer with 18:52 on the first half clock
- Illinois State's first sub was Brandon Lieb with 16:18 to play in the first half
- Illinois State led 31-27 at halftime
- ISU improved to 9-0 this season when leading at halftime, and 44-8 all-time under head coach Ryan Pedon
- Chase Walker scored a game-high 17 points, reaching double-figures in the scoring column for the fifth consecutive game, the ninth time this season, and 36th of his Redbird career
- Johnny Kinziger poured in 15 points, his 12th game in double-figures this season and 54th of his ISU career
- He now has 962 points over his Redbird career, and is looking to become the 47th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau as a Redbird
- Landon Wolf scored in double-figures for the first time this season, scoring a season-high 14 points in the contest
- Boden Skunberg scored 14, the seventh time in his last eight games that he scored 10+ points, and the 66th time of his college basketball career he has reached double-digits in the scoring column
- Illinois State's field goal percentage (.634) and three-point percentage (.565) were both season-highs, as ISU out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-to-20
- The 20 rebounds allowed in the game are tied for the 15th-lowest total in program history
- Illinois State out-rebounded Drake 37-to-20 (+17), tied for the second-largest rebounding margin of the season
- The Redbirds committed a season-high 23 turnovers, the third-most turnovers in a win in the NCAA this season
NEXT UP
The Redbirds open the new year on January 1, with a 2 p.m. New Year's Day battle with the Evansville Aces inside of CEFCU Arena.
