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Men's Basketball
Dyer's
Career Night Leads Redbird Rout of UIC
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[December 03, 2007]
NORMAL -- Backed by senior
center Levi Dyer's torrid shooting spree in the second half, the
Illinois State men's basketball team (5-2) routed Illinois-Chicago
(3-4) 73-47 Saturday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
Dyer's seven 3-pointers tied the Redbird Arena record for most
3-point field goals in a game made by a single player and also ranks
tied for fifth all-time for most 3-point field goals made by an ISU
player in one game.
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 The difference-maker in the game was the hot shooting of the
Redbirds in the second half. ISU shot 74 percent from the field in
the second half and a season-best 57 percent for the game, compared
with UIC's 19 percent field goal percentage in the second period and
just a 29 percent mark for the game.
Dyer scored a season-best 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the
field, which included 15 points in the second half. Sophomore guard
Osiris Eldridge was the only other Redbird in double digits, as he
recorded 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while senior forward Anthony
Slack ended the game with nine points and two blocks.
Illinois State took its first lead of the game, 6-5, at the
beginning of a 10-2 run in the first half that included sophomore
guard Eldridge's 100th point of the season. Eldridge's 100 points
came in ISU's seventh game, the fastest a Redbird player has reached
the century mark for points in a season since Tarise Bryson recorded
100 points after five games to start the 2000-01 season.
Six different Redbirds scored in the first nine minutes of the
game, led by Eldridge's four points on a perfect 2-of-2 shooting
effort in that time span, as ISU went into the second media timeout
(11:14) with a 14-10 advantage. UIC took its first lead of the game
(20-19) at the 6:35 mark of the half off a 3-point basket from Jovan
Ignjatovic that was part of an 8-2 Flames run. A 3-pointer by senior
center Levi Dyer with just 49 seconds left in the half extended
ISU's lead to two points (29-27), the final lead the Redbirds held
in the half.
[to top of second column]
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Dyer got the Redbirds off to a quick start in the second half, as
the Eaton, Colo., native went a perfect 6-of-6 in the period. The
Redbirds extended their lead to 19 points early in the second half
on a 23-4 run that was highlighted early on by a layup from Slack to
put ISU up 26-29. A 3-pointer by Dyer at the 15:54 mark in the half
pushed the Redbird lead into double digits (39-29). Dyer accounted
for nine of ISU's 23 points through the first 8 1/2 minutes of the
period, with all nine points coming by way of 3-pointers.
The Flames were unable to score on their first nine field goal
attempts in the second half. UIC finally got back into the points
column at the 11:47 mark with a two-point bucket that capped off the
23-4 Redbird run. ISU's shooting spree was its second largest of the
season, eclipsed only by its 25-0 run in the first half of its game
against Chicago State on Nov. 27.
Illinois State will return to action Tuesday when it hits the
road to take on Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich. Tipoff is set
for 6 p.m. at the Eagles' Convocation Center.
(Game notes)
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for
the PDF file, click
here.]
[Text from file
received from Keith Trivitt,
Illinois
State University]
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