By Austin Duncan
NORMAL, Ill – The Illinois State Redbirds shot just 31-percent from the field and committed 14 turnovers, falling to Evansville 66-55 in Missouri Valley Conference play at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds broke the seal of the game on a layup by MiKyle McIntosh to take an early lead.
Illinois State did not trail for the first seven minutes of the game. Evansville captured its first lead at the 13:39 mark on a jumper by Adam Wing, and expanded its lead to four on a make by D.J. Balentine which capped a 7-0 run by the Aces.
The Redbirds answered with a 7-0 run of its own including a 3-pointer from Paris Lee to give ISU an 18-15 lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the half. Illinois State stretches its lead to as many as four before Evansville got rolling.
The Aces used a 9-0 run to gain the biggest advantage for either team in the first half, taking a 35-27 lead with under two minutes remaining in the first half.
The run was halted by a layup from Illinois State’s Nick Banyard at the 1:26 mark and was the final make of the first half making the halftime score 35-29 in favor of Evansville.
Evansville started the second half quickly, scoring just eight seconds in, matching the team’s biggest lead of the game at eight points.
The Aces ballooned its lead to as many as 11 before Illinois State used an 8-1 run capped by a dunk by Devaughn Akoon-Purcell to cut the lead to 47-43 with 9:15 to play.
That is as close as the Redbirds would get as Mislav Brzoja nailed a 3-pointer on the following possession to give Evansville a seven point lead. The Aces lead by at least seven for the remainder of the game.
The Redbirds were led in scoring by Paris Lee and Devaughn Akoon-Purcell who collected 12 points each. MiKyle McIntosh added nine points and seven rebounds while Deontae Hawkins had eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Redbirds outrebounded the Aces 44-35 in the game, including 20 offensive rebounds. Illinois State forced 16 turnovers, turning them in to 20 points.
Illinois State freshman guard Roland Griffin returned to action after missing the last four games with a foot injury. The freshman logged eight minutes.
It was the usual suspects at the top of the stat sheet for the Aces paced by senior D.J. Balentine’s 25 points, making a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Egidijus Mockevicius collected 13 points and a game-high 20 rebounds. Six Aces played 27 or more minutes, including Adam Wing who played all 40 minutes.
Illinois State falls to 9-10 on the season and continues a three-game skid in MVC play with a 3-3 record. This marks the Redbirds first home loss in conference play.
Evansville improves to 16-3 and 5-1 in the MVC.
The Redbirds return to action when it travels to Peoria to take on I-74 rival, Bradley (3-15, 1-4 MVC) on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip. Redbird Preview will begin at 6 p.m.
Listen to postgame comments from head coach Dan Muller here.
Listen to postgame from junior guard Paris Lee here.
