Illinois State – Standing Alone in the Missouri Valley Conference

(St. Louis, MO) – Two undefeated teams competed on Doug Collins Court Saturday night and the Redbirds of Illinois State is the last team standing with an undefeated record after a 76-62 victory over Wichita State. Dan Muller’s team has now defeated the Shockers two straight times in Normal, Illinois.

Wichita State is 61-6 against Valley teams over the last three-plus seasons, and the Redbirds own three of those conquests. Northern Iowa has the other three.

Saturday night, the Redbirds’ big 3 were huge, but also, the Redbird bench outscored the Shockers’ bench 21 to 15, and that along with the ILS suffocating zone were key factors in the Redbird win.

It just left us wanting more. Though the final score wasn’t close, this game felt like a tournament game. It could be just the first of three match ups between the two Valley powerhouses.

Dan Muller commented earlier in the week that he has played his starters too many minutes and had to involve his bench more often. Saturday night, he did that to perfection as Keyshawn Evans and D.J. Clayton each reached double figures in scoring.

Illinois State’s MiKyle McIntosh and Deontae Hawkins battled foul trouble all night and still finished with 20 and 14 points respectively. McIntosh reached the 20 point mark for the third time in the last four games by virtue of an alley-oop dunk in the closing moments.

The two 6’8 players combined to make 12 of 18 shots.

When you think of Wichita State, you think of ‘play angry’, nasty defense and gritty play. Saturday night, the Redbirds came up with nine steals and eight blocked shots, due in part to that tenacious zone defense.

Often Wichita State’s guards looked confused on the offensive end, and unable to contain Illinois State’s Paris Lee on the defensive end. Daishon Smith was a non-factor. It makes me think he is nursing an injury. The Tallahassee Community College transfer scored two points, didn’t grab a rebound or hand out an assist.

There is no panic in Wichita. The Redbirds have to visit Koch Arena on February 4 for game two. We have said previously, the Shockers still seem to looking for the right rotation combination, and if they solve that by the first weekend in February, you can probably just reverse the score of Saturday’s game in ‘The Round House’.

Saturday night was fun. Valley Hoops Insider is looking forward to February 4!

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