Fiery Redbirds Soar to Victory Over Salukis

NORMAL, Ill. – For the second consecutive match, the Illinois State Redbirds maintained a lead, starting with a 4-0 advantage early on and never looking back, achieving over 60 percent shooting from the field in a decisive 85-54 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Southern Illinois on Sunday afternoon.

Johnny Kinziger and Jack Daugherty both netted a game-high 17 points, while Jordan Davis scored a season-high of 13 points and secured a career-high of 10 rebounds for his inaugural collegiate double-double. All 11 Redbirds in uniform contributed to the score, with Dalton Banks and Caden Boser each adding six in the dominating win.

Thanks to Davis’ 10 rebounds, the Redbirds out-rebounded Southern Illinois 38-to-26. Malachi Poindexter recorded a game-high of five assists, while Cade Norris and Boser each tallied four assists, setting a career-high for both. Banks achieved a season-high of four steals in the victory.

Now with a record of 10-5 for the season and standing 2-2 in the MVC, the Redbirds head to Evansville, Indiana, for a face-off on January 8 against the Aces. ISU and Evansville are part of seven schools in the conference with a record of 2-2, tied for the fourth position in the standings.

ISU opened the scoring with a jump shot from Kinziger and a steal followed by a lay-up from Banks, quickly leading 4-0 as the hosts never trailed throughout the game. SIU managed to close the gap to one at 6-5 and stayed two points behind at 9-7. The Redbirds responded with nine consecutive points, including two three-pointers from Daugherty and one from Kinziger, extending the lead to double digits. SIU narrowed the score to nine just 23 seconds later; however, with 9:53 remaining in the first half, Daugherty’s third three-pointer within a two-and-a-half-minute span restored a double-digit margin, which remained for the duration of the match. The Redbirds concluded the first half with a run of seven points to enter the locker room with a 44-23 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the lead briefly dipped below 20 points just once, as ISU comfortably secured the 31-point MVC victory.

ISU completed 31-of-51 from the field (60.8%) and 13-of-28 (46.4%) from beyond the arc. The Redbirds succeeded on 10-of-13 free throw attempts, achieving a conversion rate of 76.9. Southern Illinois was limited to 35.7 percent shooting (20-of-56), connecting on 20 percent from long range (4-of-20) and hitting 10-of-23 from the free throw line (43.5%).

Three Salukis scored in double digits, led by 11 points from Davion Sykes off the bench, while both Sheridan Sharp and Jarrett Hensley contributed 10 points.

TEAM NOTES

• Illinois State deployed a starting lineup of 3 Dalton Banks, 4 Landon Wolf, 11 Johnny Kinziger, 22 Ty Pence, and 35 Chase Walker
  • This marks the 12th occurrence this season that ISU has utilized this starting lineup, and ISU now stands at 9-3 with this configuration.
• The Salukis secured the opening tip-off.
• The first points of the match were registered by Johnny Kinziger with a jumper at 19:08 in the first half
  • This was the fifth occasion this season he scored the first points for ISU, a tie for the most on the team.
• The initial substitution for Illinois State was Caden Boser at 18:03 in the first half.
• Illinois State led 44-23 at halftime.
• All 11 uniforms available for the Redbirds contributed to the scoring in the game.
• The Redbirds surpassed the half-mark in successful shots for the ninth time this season, tied for the second-most instances in the NCAA this season.
• The team’s three-point shooting percentage of .464 represents the 12^th game of shooting .400 or higher, the highest in the country.
• Illinois State achieved 60.8 percent in field goal attempts during the game, marking the third-highest performance of the season for the Birds. ISU is tied for the most games in the nation this season (three) with a shooting rate of 60 percent or better.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Jack Daugherty
  • Achieved double-figure scoring for the sixth time this season.
  • With five successful three-pointers, he now has six games with 4+ three-pointers made, ranking 15th highest nationally this season.
  • He has recorded 34 three-point field goals this season, the 11th-highest total for a Redbird freshman in program history, surpassing Antonio Reeves’ 33 in 2019-20.
• Malachi Poindexter
  • Distributed a season-high five assists while contributing five points.
• Cade Norris
  • Matched a career-high with five points.
  • Established a career high with four assists.
• Dalton Banks
  • Secured a season-high of four steals.
• Jordan Davis
  • Achieved double-figure scoring for the first time this season, and the eighth time in his career.
  • Gathered a career-high of 10 rebounds for his inaugural collegiate double-double.

• Johnny Kinziger
  • Reached double digits for the 12th time this season, and the 25th in his ISU career.
  • Shared the team scoring lead for the fourth time this season and ninth time in his career.
• Ty Blake
  • Achieved his first collegiate field goal against the Salukis.
• Caden Boser
  • Delivered a career-high-tying four assists while scoring six points.
  • Enters ISU’s next match five points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career.

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