Evansville was tabbed to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, as compiled by league coaches, media and sports information directors.
EVANSVILLE ON THE ROAD
Sure Evansville is looking for its first road win of the season today, but look who the Purple Aces have played away from Evansville, Ind. UE lost at Butler, 75-59, Nov. 29, 2008 and at North Carolina, 93-71, Dec. 18, 2008. The two teams are a combined 22-1 on the season and 11-0 at home. Now throw Illinois State in the mix, and Evansville has faced three teams on the road with a combined record of 34-1 (.971).
AND THEN, THERE WERE EIGHT
Illinois State is one of just eight NCAA Division I basketball programs that are still undefeated. The Redbirds (12-0) are joined by Clemson (12-0), North Carolina (12-0), Pittsburgh (12-0), Minnesota (12-0), Oklahoma (12-0), Wake Forest (11-0) and Stanford (9-0).
ONE MORE FOR THE RECORD
Illinois State enters Wednesday's game against Evansville with a 12-0 record, equaling the best start in school history. In 1977-78, the Redbirds also won their first 12 games to open the campaign.
IN-SEASON MEDIA CONFERENCES
ISU Athletics Media Relations will host seven in-season media conferences during the 2008-09 season. Each conference will feature head coach Tim Jankovich and a member of the ISU basketball team. The media conferences will start at 1 p.m., and be held in the Redbird Arena Media Room, which is just off the southwest loading dock. The scheduled dates are: Jan. 5, Jan. 23, Jan. 29, Feb. 23 and March 3.
VALLEY TELECONFERENCES
Teleconferences with The Valley head coaches will be conducted each Tuesday throughout the season. The first teleconference is slated for Dec. 16, followed by every Tuesday from Jan. 6 to March 3. The conferences begin at 10 a.m. CT. To participate in the conference calls, call 913.981.5517. Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich will participate at 10:30 a.m.
PLAYING FOR A VALLEY TITLE?
It's only the second conference game of the year, so this is a little early to be talking about Valley titles. However, in the history of the conference, 16 teams have started a season 13-0 or better and 14 of those teams went on to win the Valley championship. Only Bradley in 1951 and Indiana State in 1978 did not win the championship after starting the season with 13-plus wins.
PHILLIN' IT UP IN THE SECOND HALF
Junior Lloyd Phillips has been coming up big in the game's final 20 minutes for the Redbirds this season. In fact, he leads the team in second-half points with 7.8 per game. Phillips is shooting 54.5 percent (30-for-55) in the second half, including 47.6 percent on threes (10-of-21).
JOINING THE CLUB
With his 18 points at Central Michigan, Illinois State junior Osiris Eldridge became the 39th member of the Redbirds' 1,000-point club. Eldridge, who is the first addition to the 1,000-point club since 2005, currently has 1,029 career points.
BALANCED SCORING
For only the third time in the last 25 seasons, Illinois State has six players averaging eight points or better per game. Champ Oguchi leads the team with 16.0 points per game and is followed by Osiris Eldridge (15.0 ppg.), Lloyd Phillips (12.7 ppg.), Emmanuel Holloway (9.4 ppg.), Dinma Odiakosa (9.4 ppg.) and Brandon Sampay (8.1 ppg.). The other two seasons when ISU had six players averaging eight points or more per game were 2006-07 and 1994-95.
OT BABY!
Illinois State's overtime victory at Missouri State Sunday marked the first overtime game for the Redbirds since defeating Northern Iowa, 67-64, Jan. 9, 2007. ISU is now 34-29, all-time, in overtime games since becoming an NCAA Division I program in 1970. The Redbirds have won their last three overtime games.
CALL IT A COMEBACK
With 15:31 left to play in Sunday's game at Missouri State, the Redbirds trailed by 15 points, 43-28. The 15-point, second-half rally was the best by the Redbirds since overcoming a 17-point deficit to Drake March 1, 2004 at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds went on to win that game, 73-68.
AN ALL-AROUND GAME
Not only has Osiris Eldridge scored his 1,000th-career point this season, but he also grabbed his 400th-career rebound in the same game. The Redbird junior also boasts 99 career steals heading into today's game. With one more steal, Eldridge would become the seventh Redbird all-time to own 1,000 career points, 400 career rebounds and 100 career steals. He would join Tony Holifield, Rickie Johnson, Rick Lamb, Dan Muller, Mike VandeGarde and LeRoy Watkins.
'BIRDS AGAINST THE ACES
Even though Illinois State has won the last three games against Evansville, it hasn't been easy and that shows in the Redbirds' career numbers versus the Purple Aces. Osiris Eldridge leads the Redbirds with 12.0 points per game against Evansville, but is shooting 35.1 percent from the field. Eldridge has fared well on the boards against UE with 7.8 rebounds per game. Emmanuel Holloway is averaging seven points per game, while Dinma Odiakosa has scored 4.5 points per contest.
THE DYNAMIC DUO
Through 12 games, both Champ Oguchi (16.0 ppg.) and Osiris Eldridge (15.0 ppg.) are averaging 15 points per game for the Redbirds. The last time Illinois State had two players average 15 or more points in a season was in 1988-89, when Jarod Coleman (16.0 ppg.) and Rickey Jackson (15.8 ppg.) equaled the feat.
LLOYD RIGHT ON TARGET
With a well-architect jump shot, junior-college transfer Lloyd Phillips is displaying a knack for sinking baskets. Through 12 games, Phillips is shooting 49 percent from the field, which is the best field-goal percentage by a Redbird guard since Vince Greene shot 51 percent during the 2002-03 season. Phillips is also shooting 46.7 percent on three-point field goals, which if the season ended today, would rank No. 5 in Illinois State history.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois State is in its 21st season of basketball action on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds notched a 16-2 home record last season, which was three more victories than the previous best for a season. With a 6-0 home record this season, ISU owns a 206-78 all-time record on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, and boasts a 72.5-percent winning percentage.
SUPER-SUB SAMPAY
Senior Brandon Sampay has come off the bench in 11-of-12 games this season and is the only Redbird reserve to score in every game. Sampay is averaging 8.1 points per game this year and has scored double-figures off the bench four times this season, including a career-best 14 points at Missouri State Sunday. Sampay scored six of his 14 points in the overtime period to spark the Redbird win.
JUST IMAGINE ...
If the three-point line was not moved back a foot. Through 12 games, the Redbirds are averaging 9.3 made three-pointers per game, which is two more threes per contest than last season. Also, ISU is shooting 39.4 percent from beyond the arc this season, after shooting 37.2 percent last year. In 12 games this season, the Redbirds have already made double-digit three-pointers in five games, equalling the output of the entire season last year.
RARE COMPANY
After being named the Valley's Preseason Player of the Year, junior Osiris Eldridge appears to have an inside track to join a select group. Eldridge won the conference's freshman of the year award in 2007. If he ends his Illinois State career with the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year Award, which he finished runner-up for last season, Eldridge would become only the second player in league history to win both the freshman of the year and player of the year award, joining Southern Illinois' Ashraf Amaya.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Despite starting a four-guard lineup in 10 of the first 12 games, Illinois State has won the rebounding battle in 10 games this season. On the year, the Redbirds own a +5.2 rebounding margin.
278 GAMES WITH A TREY
After sinking eight three-pointers in the victory at Missouri State, ISU enters today's game against Evansville with at least one made three in 278-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton Dec. 12, 1999.
BACK ON TRACK
With the 25-10 overall record in 2007-08, the Redbirds ended a string of two-straight losing seasons. Non-winning seasons are not common around Illinois State basketball. In the 37 years of being an NCAA Division I program, the Redbirds have had just seven losing seasons.
JANKOVICH'S ENCORE
Head coach Tim Jankovich's first season at Illinois State was a memorable one, not only for him, but for the program. With a 25-10 record, Jankovich guided the Redbirds to a school-record-tying 25 wins and he posted the most single-season wins for a first-year coach in program history. Currently he holds a 78.7 percent winning percentage (37-10) at Illinois State, which ranks second on the all-time coaching ledger in ISU's 111-year history. He only trails ISU first-ever head coach B.C. Edwards, who posted a 14-2 mark (.875) in four seasons from 1899-1902.
CREATING THE SECOND CHANCE
Junior Dinma Odiakosa is all about giving his teammates a second chance, and as a result, is leading the team with 37 offensive rebounds. Through 12 games, the Redbirds have five players with double-digit offensive rebounds. Trailing Odiakosa are Osiris Eldridge (20), Brandon Sampay (18), Champ Oguchi (16) and Emmanuel Holloway (12).
SIXTH CENTURY
In the history of the world, the sixth century was deemed as the start of the dark ages. However in Redbird basketball, players who score their 100th point of the season through the first six games has been anything but dark. ISU's Champ Oguchi scored 104 points through the first six games for the Redbirds. The last player at ISU to surpass the 100-point plateau through six games was Lorenzo Gordon in the 2004-05 season. The 2005 Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year had 107 points after six games.
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