NORMAL, Ill. – In Illinois State's first of two exhibitions ahead of the start of the 2026-27 season, the Redbirds toppled the visiting Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten by a score of 70-64 as newcomer Noah Cleveland had a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double, and Johnny Kinziger scored 15 points with two steals and two blocks in the six-point victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Redbirds and Wildcats traded the lead back and forth early, with Illinois State stretching to a three-point lead at 10-7 on a free throw by Nick Allen. Northwestern came back with a 10-0 run to lead by seven as the Wildcats made eight of their first ten shot attempts of the contest. Illinois State ran off seven consecutive points to re-take the lead at 25-24 with 4:59 on the clock on a fast break dunk from Noah Cleveland. Northwestern pushed back ahead, leading by as many as six before Mason Klabo drained a three-pointer with two seconds left to cut the gap to just three at 35-32 at halftime.

Northwestern extended their lead to seven – tied for the Wildcat's largest lead of the contest – before ISU ran off seven in a row to knot the score at 44 apiece with 13:32 remaining in the contest. A Klabo three-pointer put ISU ahead 50-48, before Cleveland closed a 7-0 ISU run with a put-back lay-in to put the Birds ahead 52-48. ISU's lead reached 55-53. The Redbird advantage grew to as many as seven points at 61-54 on a Kinziger fade-away jump shot. ISU would not surrender the lead again in the game, leading by as many as eight late in the six-point Illinois State exhibition victory.

KEY STATISTICS

• Illinois State started with the lineup of 0 Noah Cleveland, 3 Mason Klabo, 5 Demarion Burch, 11 Johnny Kinziger, and 35 Chase Walker
• The game was the first time that a Big Ten school has played a game inside CEFCU/Redbird Arena since Purdue faced off against ISU on December 7, 1999
• Illinois State won the opening toss
• Mason Klabo scored ISU's first points on a lay-up with 18:30 on the first-half clock
• Northwestern led 35-32 at halftime
• Johnny Kinziger scored 15 points for ISU, eight of which came in the opening 20 minutes of action
• In his first game as a Redbird, Noah Cleveland had a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double
• Chase Walker reached double-figure scoring with 11 points while adding six rebounds
• Nine different Redbirds scored in the game, including six players playing in an ISU uniform for the first time

NEXT UP

The Redbirds have one remaining exhibition, on Saturday, October 24 when the team travels to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to take on the Green Bay Phoenix in a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.