 The Redbirds led by as many as 19 points, at the 16:06 mark in the
second half, but the Wildcats pulled within two with six seconds
remaining. Two clutch free throws by Tony Wills with five seconds to
play ultimately secured ISU's win, which was Illinois State's first
true Big Ten road victory since head coach Dan Muller — as a player
— helped ISU beat Northwestern in Evanston on Dec. 18, 1996. The
Redbirds' last victory against a Big Ten team occurred Nov. 24,
2004, against Penn State at the BCA Classic in Milwaukee, Wis.
Daishon Knight and Zach Lofton led four Redbirds in double figures
with 15 points each. For the second consecutive game, Michael
Middlebrooks earned a double-digit rebounding effort with 11 boards,
and Kaza Keane and Paris Lee both contributed four assists. ISU shot
a season-best 40.7 percent from the field, including 31.6 from
beyond the arc.
Northwestern's JerShon Cobb led the Wildcat attack with 19
points, including an 11-for-14 free throw effort.
ISU scored first in the game, as Lee connected with John Jones
under the basket to put Illinois State ahead early 2-0, only to
watch the Wildcats score six straight. With Northwestern ahead 8-3,
the Redbirds went on a 12-2 run that included two layups by Knight,
plus a Reggie Lynch dunk and layup, to increase ISU's advantage to
15-10.
Knight and Lofton teamed up to lead Illinois State on a run with
nine points by Lofton and four points from Knight to increase ISU's
lead to 31-17 with 4:04 remaining in the first half. The Redbirds
outscored Northwestern 9-4 in the final minutes to take a 40-22 lead
into halftime.
ISU shot 51.6 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the
free-throw line in the first half.
[to top of second column] |
The Wildcats netted six straight points to open the second
half, pulling within 40-28. Illinois State again answered, this
time with a 7-0 run, to pull ahead 47-28 with 16:06 remaining.
Northwestern responded by outscoring ISU 12-4 to narrow NU's
deficit to 51-40, capped off by a Kale Abrahamson 3-pointer. A
Dave Sobolewski fast-break layup edged the Wildcats within
53-44.
A Knight 3-pointer on the other end extended ISU's advantage to
58-44 with 8:14 left to play, before the Wildcats went on a 16-5 run
to trim Illinois State's advantage to 63-60 with 32 seconds
remaining. A free throw by Lee made the score 64-60, but Cobb's
layup with 23 seconds left pulled NU within two points. Lee made two
more charity shots to give ISU a 66-62 lead, followed by another
Cobb layup.
With five seconds remaining, Wills, who entered the game for the
first time as a defensive substitution at the nine-second mark, was
fouled immediately after receiving the inbounds pass. He drained his
ensuing two free throws to score his first career points and secure
Illinois State's 68-64 victory.
With the team's first win secured, Illinois State returns to Doug
Collins Court at Redbird Arena for a midweek matchup with Manhattan
on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the
Redbird Arena ticket office at 309-438-8000 or by clicking
here (GoRedbirds.com).
___
ISU-Northwestern
box score and play-by-play
(PDF)
[Text from
news release received from
Illinois State University]
|
