VALPARAISO, Ind. – In a game that saw a dozen ties and six lead changes, the Illinois State Redbirds fell at Valparaiso on Wednesday night by a 77-71 final score.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redbirds and Beacons traded the lead three times in the early portion of the contest, and the teams were tied at six, before Valparaiso took a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the half with a 5-0 run. Twice ISU closed the gap to one, the final time after a three-pointer by Jack Daugherty; however, the Beacons ran off an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to double-digits, with Valpo taking a 12-point, 35-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Trailing by 12 at the break, the Redbirds started chipping away at the deficit, knotting the score at 48, 50, 54, and 56, before ISU took its first lead of the second half on a lay-in by Johnny Kinziger. The teams were again tied at 60 and 62, and the Redbirds trailed 68-64 before Johnny Kinziger made a pair of free throws and a jumper to re-tie the score at 68. A Valpo jumper with 1:49 to play put the hosts up two, and the Redbirds would not be able to knot the score again in the six-point loss.
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 11th game with this lineup, and this group is now 8-3 on the season
- ISU wore its new throwback red uniforms for the sixth time this season
- The Redbirds drop a MVC game for the first time this season, falling to 12-4 on the season and 4-1 in conference play
- Valparaiso won the opening tip
- ISU's first points of the game came from Chase Walker on a put-back with 19:07 on the first half clock
- Illinois State's first sub was Landon Moore with 17:32 to play in the first half
- Valparaiso led 35-23 at halftime
- The Redbirds trailed at halftime for just the fifth time this season
- Chase Walker scored 20 points, his seventh consecutive game with double-digit points, his 11th of the season, and 38th of his career
- The game was his second straight game with 20+ points
- Johnny Kinziger scored 17 points, and he now has 983 over his collegiate career
- He had his 13th game this season scoring in double-figures, and the 55th of his career
- He now ranks 49th in school history in career points, drawing past Duane Bruninga and Dinma Odiakosa during the contest
- Ty'Reek Coleman scored 13 points, hitting 4-of-10 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe
- He has reached double-figure scoring seven times in his freshman season
- Landon Wolf pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, his second time this season leading in the category
- The Redbirds pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, the sixth time this season that ISU has pulled down 10+ offensive boards
- ISU out-rebounded Valparaiso 36-to-28, the 13th time this season that the Redbirds had out-rebounded its opponent
- The Redbirds committed single-digit turnovers for the seventh time this season
- ISU made 42 percent of its shots in the game (26-of-62), 31.3 percent from long range (5-of-16), and 60.9 percent of its free throw tries (14-of-23)
NEXT UP
The Redbirds return to CEFCU Arena on Saturday, January 10, when ISU hosts the UIC Flames in a 4 p.m. tip-off.
