By ISU Sports Information
ST. LOUIS – Illinois State men’s basketball junior forward MiKyle McIntosh is the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.
McIntosh’s MVC Player of the Week accolade was the first of his career and the third for ISU this season after Paris Lee earned the honor twice (Dec. 5 and Dec. 19).
McIntosh played an instrumental role in both of Illinois State’s MVC victories last week which moved ISU into sole possession of first place in the league standings for the first time since 1997-98. McIntosh averaged a team-best 13.5 points per game on 9-for-15 shooting from the field. He also went 8-for-9 at the free throw line and averaged six rebounds and two assists per contest.
McIntosh and the Redbirds – who are now 6-0 in the MVC – handed Wichita State its first conference loss of the season and knocked the Shockers out of first in the standings for the first time since 2013 by beating WSU, 60-53, Saturday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. McIntosh led all scorers with 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting. He also went 5-for-5 (100 percent) at the free throw line and collected five rebounds while dishing out four assists in 27 minutes.
After Wichita State took an early 15-13 lead, McIntosh grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play to regain the advantage. In the second half, with the Redbird lead cut to seven points, McIntosh hit a fade-away 3-pointer which sparked a 7-0 run to give ISU a 69-55 advantage at the 1:37 mark. After McIntosh went 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the final two minutes, an alley-oop dunk from Lee to McIntosh with 18 seconds remaining put an exclamation point on Illinois State’s 76-62 victory, which was ISU’s seventh-straight win. Meanwhile, McIntosh and the Redbirds snapped Wichita State’s six-game winning streak while holding the Shockers to their second-lowest shooting effort of the season (34.9 percent).
On Wednesday, at SIU Arena in Carbondale, McIntosh and the Redbirds won their third-straight MVC road game to start the season – a feat that had not been achieved since 1997-98 – by coming from behind to beat Southern Illinois, 60-53. McIntosh netted seven points and grabbed seven rebounds in a game-high 37 minutes of action. He shot 3-for-4 at the free throw line to aid in the winning effort. After Southern Illinois built a 5-0 lead to start the game, McIntosh put Illinois State on the board with a hook shot at the 17:56 mark. A McIntosh jumper with 6:41 remaining in the first half then trimmed the Saluki lead to three points. McIntosh started the second half by drawing a foul and going 2-for-2 at the free throw line to pull the Redbirds within two points, and less than four minutes later, ISU took the lead and never again trailed in the MVC victory.
McIntosh leads the team in scoring this season (14.6 points per game) and ranks second in rebounding (6.6 rebounds per game) and assists (2.1 assists per game).
McIntosh and the Redbirds will try to extend their seven-game winning streak and remain undefeated in the MVC when ISU plays at Bradley (8-11, 3-3 MVC) in Peoria Wednesday at 8 p.m.
