Late Utah State Rally Downs The Redbirds, 60-55

[November 17, 2014]  NORMAL - Senior guard Daishon Knight scored 17 points and newcomer DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell recorded his first double-double in an Illinois State uniform, but a late rally by Utah State lifted the Aggies (2-0) to a 60-55 win over the Redbirds (0-1) in the regular-season opener Sunday afternoon at Redbird Arena.

Knight led the Redbirds with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and Akoon-Purcell recorded his first double-double as a Redbird with a 15 point and 10 rebound effort against the Aggies. Utah State’s David Collette led the Aggies with 17 points in the victory and Darius Perkins added 14 points for the Aggies.

The Redbirds jumped out to a 12-3 lead at the second media timeout, following a quick 6-0 run that featured four points from Akoon-Purcell. Utah State fought right back with a 7-0 run of its own to cut the ISU lead to two points at 12-10, before Illinois State ripped off a quick 8-0 run highlighted by five points from Knight, to extend the lead to double digits at 20-10 with just over six minutes left in the first half. A thunderous dunk by Akoon-Purcell with 2:25 left on the clock gave the Redbirds their largest lead of the half at 25-13, but the Aggies finished the half on a 7-2 run to cut the ISU lead to seven points at 27-20 as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
 

Utah State came out energized and ripped off an 8-3 run to cut the Redbird lead to just two points at 30-28, following a three-point play by David Collette. The Aggies would eventually chip away at the lead and tie the game at 36-36, when Collette hit a jumper from the wing. Illinois State got the lead back quickly on a steal and fast-break layup from Bobby Hunter, but Collette hit another jumper from the top of the key to knot the game back up at 38-38 with 12:32 left in the game.

The Aggies would take the lead again two minutes later at 41-40 after a three-pointer by JoJo McGlaston and extended the lead to 43-40 on the next possession on a jumper by Sean Harris. Chris Smith was then fouled outside the three-point line and connected on two-of-three free throw attempts to widen lead out to five points at 45-40 with 9:27 left in the game. The run continued and extended the run out to 10-0 following a three-pointer from Darius Perkins that made the score 48-40.

Illinois State fought back with an 13-2 run, capped off on a jumper by Deontae Hawkins with just under four minutes to play, to regain the lead at 53-50 with four minutes remaining in the contest. Utah State answered immediately with a 6-0 run of its own, as a three-pointer by Smith gave the Aggies a 56-53 with two and a half minutes left to play. A jumper by Akoon-Purcell cut the lead down to just one point at 56-55 for the Redbirds a minute later and after a defensive stop, the Redbirds had a chance to take the lead but a jumper by Akoon-Purcell fell short and Utah State regained possession.

ISU was forced to foul and Perkins split his two free throws to make the score 57-55 with 20 seconds left. The Redbirds had another chance to tie the game and Hunter got to the rim, but his layup attempt was blocked from behind by Collette and the Aggies headed back to the free throw stripe. Jalen Moore split his free throws to make the score 58-55 with seven seconds left, and the Aggies fouled Paris Lee to make him shoot free throws.

Lee missed the first attempt and rimmed out the second in hopes of giving the Redbirds a chance at a three-pointer, but the Aggies got the ball back and sank two free throws to put the game away at 60-55. The Redbirds return to action Friday, Nov. 21, against Weber State in the opening round of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, with game time set for 8 p.m.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

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