GREEN BAY, Wis. – Despite 14 points from Johnny Kinziger and 13 from Malik Messina-Moore, the Illinois State basketball team dropped its exhibition finale on Saturday afternoon, 79-71.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Green Bay jumped out quickly, sprinting to a 7-0 lead through the first two and a half minutes, and the Birds were forced to play catch-up from there. The Phoenix lead grew to as many as 16, six and a half minutes into the game, before Illinois State started chipping away at the deficit. ISU tied the game with 5:37 to play in the first half on the second of two first half Isaac Ericksen three-pointers, and their first lead on a Zaxton King lay-in with 4:25 to play; however, Green Bay closed strong, taking a four-point, 37-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half was a tight battle throughout, with the largest lead by either team being ten points at the tail end of the contest. The Phoenix led 42-35, four minutes into the second half before the Redbird defense held the Phoenix without a point during a 3:35 span in the second half, eventually tying the game at 44 and 46. The Birds; however, were unable to re-take the lead, falling to the Phoenix by a 79-71 score.

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 Redbirds won the opening tip
• The first ISU points came on a three-pointer from Mason Klabo with 17:15 left in the first half
• 10 different players reached the scoring column for the Redbirds
• Kinziger was the first Redbird to reach double-figure scoring, as he had 14 points, while also adding a game-high-tying five assists and a game-high three steals
• Malik Messina-Moore scored 13 points with five rebounds and three assists
• Deng Garang pulled down five rebounds to tie for the team lead, while scoring six points
• Zaxton King was 2-for-5 from long range, scoring eight points in the game
• Klabo scored seven points with a game-high-tying five assists and two rebounds
• Chase Walker gave out four assists while scoring eight points and pulling down four rebounds in 17 minutes of action

NEXT UP

The regular season awaits the Redbirds on Monday, November 2, when the team travels to Moraga, California, to take on the Saint Mary's Gaels in a 9 p.m. (CT) tip-off at the University Credit Union Pavilion.