 Johnson led three Redbirds (16-7, 8-4 MVC) in double figures,
followed by sophomore Osiris Eldridge with 16 points on 7-for-11
shooting. Johnson also tied his career high with eight assists.
Drake (21-1, 12-0 MVC) was led by senior Leonard Houston, who scored
a game-high 22 points. Drake's Josh Young, the Valley's leading
scorer, finished with 18 points, with all but one tally coming in
the second half.
The Redbirds fell to 1-4 when playing opponents ranked in the top
25 at Redbird Arena, with their only win coming Nov. 24, 1997, in an
87-65 decision over then-No. 24 Pittsburgh.
Illinois State got it going offensively to begin the game, as
Johnson provided the spark for the Redbirds. After he hit a 3 on the
Redbirds' first possession, ISU recorded a stop and Johnson found
Dinma Odiakosa wide-open for an easy layup, giving ISU a 5-0 lead
and forcing Drake into its first timeout at the 18:57 mark in the
first half. The Redbirds continued to keep the home crowd on its
feet the next time down the court, as Boo Richardson found Slack on
an alley-oop. Slack threw down a thunderous two-handed slam as the
Redbirds went on an 18-8 scoring run to begin the game.
The Redbirds kept providing the pressure on the Bulldogs as ISU
kept making plays above the rim. After junior Brandon Sampay missed
a jumper, Eldridge followed the shot with a two-handed tip-dunk,
which gave ISU a 20-10 lead and forced Drake to use its second
timeout with 12:40 remaining in the half.
Drake used its 3-point shooting to get back into the ballgame, as
the Bulldogs hit three shots from beyond the arc to cut the
Redbirds' lead to three, at 24-21, with 8:11 left in the half. But
the Redbirds used a 7-0 spurt to widen their margin back to 10
points, as Johnson hit his second 3 of the half to give ISU a 31-21
advantage at the 6:18 mark of the first. Illinois State kept the
momentum for the rest of the half and ended with a 38-29 lead at the
break.
The 'Birds continued to play inspired in the first five minutes
of the second half as Eldridge and Brandon Holtz each hit from
beyond the arc, and the Redbirds increased their lead to 11 points
at the first media timeout (15:25) of the second half. The Redbirds
also got Drake's point guard Adam Emmenecker in foul trouble, as he
picked up three quick fouls and hit the bench for over four minutes.
But Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to five, at
46-41, and forced ISU to use a timeout.
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Young continued to fire from long range and hit two more
back-to-back 3s from deep, as Drake used an 18-6 run to take its
first lead of the game, 53-52, with 10:16 left in intermission. The
Redbirds began to lose rhythm offensively during Drake's run, as ISU
committed two turnovers during that span.
But the Redbirds battled back, putting together their own run, as
Odiakosa's conventional 3-point play put the finishing touches on a
10-3 spurt that put the Redbirds within one point, 67-66, with 2:15
remaining in regulation. After Emmencker made his own conventional
3-point play with 1:44 left, Johnson hit a running jumper to answer.
But the Drake defense hung tough after missing on offense, stopping
the Redbirds in consecutive trips down the floor.
After Cox hit only 1-of-2 shots from the charity stripe, Johnson
buried another running jumper to cut the lead back to two, at 72-70,
with 17.8 seconds left. The Redbirds were forced to foul, and
Drake's Jacob Baryenbruch hit the front end of two shots from the
free-throw line. When Baryenbruch's second attempt hit the front
iron, the Redbirds were able to corral the rebound, but senior Levi
Dyer's game-tying attempt from 3-point land was long, ending the
game.
The Redbirds will play their second of a three-game homestand
Saturday, when ISU takes on in-state rival Bradley. Tipoff from Doug
Collins Court at Redbird Arena is slated for 7:07 p.m. The rivalry
game can also be seen live on WMBD-TV (CBS 31 in Bloomington-Normal
and Peoria), as well as heard on WJBC-AM 1230.
[Text from file received from John
Sandberg, Illinois
State University]
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