 Tyler Brown finished the first half with 17 points, on 6-of-8
shooting from the field and a 5-for-7 showing from 3-point range,
but was held to just five points in the second half as he finished
with a game-high 22-points. Jon Ekey added in 13 points, thanks to a
5-for-7 effort from the field and a 3-for-4 mark from beyond the
arc, and John Wilkins scored a season-best 12 points to round out
the scoring for the Redbirds. All five Wyoming starters finished in
double figures, with Larry Nance Jr. leading the way with a
career-best 19 points.The two teams traded baskets to open the
game, before Brown nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to
give the Redbirds a 7-4 advantage early. The Cowboys responded with
a 6-1 run to take a 10-8 edge, before the Redbirds went on a 6-0 run
of their own, capped off on a jumper by Johnny Hill, to regain the
lead at 14-10 with 11:17 left in the first half.
After Wyoming cut the lead back to two points, Brown threw down
an alley-oop dunk to give ISU a four-point advantage once again at
16-12. A layup by Jordan Threloff made the score 18-14 soon after,
before Derrious Gilmore nailed a 3-pointer and Nance made a hook
shot in the lane to give the Cowboys the lead back at 19-18. The
Wyoming lead was short-lived, as Brown nailed his second 3-pointer
of the game 17 seconds later to put ISU back up 21-19 with 8:04 left
on the clock.
With the game tied at 21-21, a tip-in by Wilkins gave ISU a
two-point advantage at 23-21, before Brown hit his third trey of the
first half to extend the lead to five points. As the ball was in the
air, Jackie Carmichael was fouled, and the Redbirds got the ball
back. ISU took advantage of the mistake and Nick Zeisloft hit a
3-pointer to give the Redbirds an eight-point lead.
Nance put a stop to the quick run with a three-point play of his
own, but Ekey answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner,
and Brown nailed back-to-back treys to cap off a 12-0 run and blow
the game open at 41-24 with just under four minutes left in the
half. Wyoming put an end to the run, thanks to a 3-pointer from Luke
Martinez and a dunk by Leonard Washington, to make the halftime
score 43-29 in favor of the Redbirds.
[to top of second column] |
ISU continued its hot shooting and opened the second half on a
7-2 run, with layups from Bryant Allen and Brown and a 3-pointer by
Ekey from the top of the key, to grow the lead to the largest of the
game for the Redbirds at 50-31. Wyoming fought back with seven quick
points on a pair of dunks by Nance and a 3-pointer by Martinez to
cut the lead to 50-38 with 15:08 left in the game. After trading
baskets, Wilkins hit back-to-back 3-pointers to widen the lead back
out to 16 points at 58-42 just two minutes later.
The Cowboys rallied back with a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to
single digits at 60-51, which caused ISU head coach Dan Muller to
call a timeout. Wyoming continued the streak and ran it to 14-0,
after a 3-pointer and layup by Martinez and a trey by Gilmore cut
the lead to just one point at 60-59 with 8:27 left in the game.
Hill scored on a three-point play in the lane to end a
four-minute-plus scoring drought and give the Redbirds a four-point
lead at 63-59, but a layup by Nance and a jumper by Washington
knotted the game at 63-63 with 6:13 remaining on the clock. The
teams traded free throws over the next two minutes, before Wyoming
took its first lead since the 8:21 mark of the first half, when
Gilmore hit a pair of free throws to put the Cowboys up 67-66 with
4:22 left.
The run would grow to 14-1, giving Wyoming a 77-67 lead with 1:35
remaining in the game. The Cowboys would hold on to that lead to
complete the comeback road victory.
The Redbirds will return to action Saturday, when they welcome
Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan to Redbird Arena.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and the game will be broadcast
live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago with Kurt Pegler and Bob Morris on
the call.
___
Box score
[Text from
news release received from
Illinois State University] |
