NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State made 12-of-14 free throws in the final seven minutes to help the Redbirds escape with a 74-68 win against visiting Missouri State here Saturday at CEFCU Arena.
Thanks to a great start, Missouri State led by as many as 13 in the opening half and held a six-point advantage at the intermission. The Redbirds made three timely 3-pointers over the game’s final 20 minutes to retain a late lead and held off MoState’s late rally at the free throw line.
Johnny Kinzinger had 19 points – all in the second half – to lead Illinois State with Landon Wolf posting 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for ISU.
Missouri State got 24 points from Dez White in his return to action, including seven 3-pointers. Vincent Brady II added 13 for the Bears who out-performed ISU in nearly every percentage.
The Bears (7-12, 0-8 MVC) shot 46.5 percent from the field on 20-of-43 shots and matched a season-high with 11 threes (11-for-25) to convert 44.0 percent on the afternoon. MoState was also 17-for-24 (.708) at the line with 12 assists.
Illinois State (11-8, 3-5 MVC), which started the day ranked 11th nationally in effective field goal percentage, was 24-of-52 (.462) overall from the field, 10-for-27 (.370) from three and 16-for-21 (.762) at the line. The Redbirds held a 33-25 rebounding advantage which included 16 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds.
The Redbirds started the second half making five of their first six shots to erase Missouri State’s lead and force a Bears’ timeout. ISU’s lead grew to 11 by the 10:53 mark. The Bears kept their composure, splashing home treys from Zaxton King and White to make it 55-50 before the under-eight timeout.
A Brady three with 3:38 to go made it 63-60 game, and the Bears came away with a defensive stop on ISU’s ensuing possession. Missouri State couldn’t capitalize, misfiring on a 3-point attempt on their next trip.
In the final minute, White’s seventh trey of the contest made it 71-68, but ISU closed things out at the line with Missouri State committing a costly turnover on its last full possession. White became the 20th Missouri State player to make seven threes in a game.
Early in the game, Missouri State jumped all over the Redbirds out of the gates, forcing to Illinois State timeouts less than five minutes into the game. White was 4-of-4 in that span with three triples to give MoState an early 13-5 lead.
That lead would swell to 22-9 on a drive to the bucket by Jalen Hampton that capped a 9-2 MoState run with 8:38 to go in the opening stanza. ISU would slice into that deficit over the next seven minutes with three treys of its own, including a rare four-point possession late in the half that made it a 28-25 contest.
The Bears kept their composure before the break, reeling off the last three points of the period at the free throw line and getting three defensive stops to push ahead 31-25 at the intermission.
The Bears continue their road swing on Tuesday night at Northern Iowa (7 p.m.) before returning to Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday, Jan. 25 to play Drake (3 p.m.) on Hall of Fame weekend.
The Hall of Fame Saturday game will feature an appearance from Chiefs’ mascot KC Wolfe in addition to Stripe Out and Kids Day promotions.
