3-point shooting lifts Redbirds in NIT win

[March 16, 2012]  OXFORD, Miss. -- Illinois State sank a school-record 17 3-pointers, while Tyler Brown matched his career-high 26 points, and Nic Moore tossed in a career-high 24 points and added a career-best 10 assists in a 96-93 overtime victory over Mississippi in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament at the C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum on Wednesday night.

Jackie Carmichael added another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Jon Ekey added 15 points.

Illinois State jumped out to an 8-0 lead thanks to 3-pointers by both Brown and Moore along with a fadeaway jumper by Carmichael. Following an Ole Miss timeout, the Rebels rattled off 11 straight points of their own to take a 11-8 lead with 15:04 left in the half.

The runs continued, as Illinois State responded with another 8-0 run, thanks to another 3 by Brown and one from Bryant Allen, giving the Redbirds a 16-11 edge with 12:03 on the clock. ISU pushed the lead to 10 points, at 26-16, after back-to-back dunks by Carmichael.

ISU finished the first half as hot as it started and knocked down nine 3-pointers on 13 attempts, or 69.2 percent. As a result, the Redbirds led 44-32 at the half, marking the most points they scored in a first half this season. Brown led the way with 14 points, including four treys.

Brown's hot shooting kept the Redbirds in the lead in the second half, as he followed his four 3-point first-half effort with four more 3s. However, Brown collected his fourth personal foul and Ole Miss cut the ISU lead to 66-63. Redbird freshman Nic Moore ended the rally with back-to-back 3s and ISU built its lead back up to 12 points.

Following Brown's fifth foul, Ole Miss chipped away at the Redbird lead and forced an 81-81 tie with 54.4 seconds left in the game. Moore drained a pair of free throws with 41.2 left to put ISU back up 83-81. Terrance Henry gave the Rebels their first lead of the second half with a traditional three-point play with 29 seconds left. That set the stage for Anthony Cousin to score his first point of a game, on his second free throw attempt with 6.7 seconds left, and force overtime for ISU's second straight game.

Illinois State opened the overtime period with back-to-back dunks by Carmichael and Ekey and scored the first six points of the extra frame. Once again, Ole Miss countered and cut the ISU lead to two, but this time the Redbirds were able to hold on for the win.

The Redbirds shot 17 for 23 from 3-point range and improved to 21-13 on the season, while Ole Miss fell to 20-14.

With the win, ISU will now play at Stanford on Monday at 10:30 p.m. CDT. That game will be televised on ESPN2.

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Box score

[Text from file received from Illinois State]