(St. Louis, MO) – Illinois State is still playing and the young Redbirds are growing up before our eyes. Their 62-55 win over Texas A & M in the College Basketball Insider tournament is the latest piece of evidence for one of the nation’s youngest teams.
Their veteran leader, junior Daishon Knight led the way with 17 points, but the freshman center Reggie Lynch was a significant force. Lynch scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds and the Missouri Valley Conference’s leader in blocked shots swatted six of them back at the Aggies. Lynch has recorded 91 blocks which is one behind Benoit Benjamin’s freshman league record. Benjamin collected his 92 rejections for Creighton in the 1982-83 season.
Knight and fellow junior John Jones were the only to Birds to reach double figures in scoring. Jones is slowly coming back from injury and was limited to 14 minutes and jammed 12 points and four rebounds into his appearance. Knight, an honorable mention all MVC player, also led the team in rebounds with nine.
ISU improves their record to 18 – 15 and they move into the semifinals of the CBI. Texas A & M finishes at 18 – 16. The Redbirds join Sienna and Old Dominion as three of the CBI’s final four teams.
The MVC is now 3 and 3 in post season play and finishes the season winning four of seven games against the SEC. The CBI semifinal games will be played Wednesday.
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
