Indiana State started the game by nailing a 3,however the Redbirds came down and drained a 3 of their own and the race was on.The teams traded baskets over the next three possessions and by the first time out Illinois State held an 11-10 lead with only one shot being missed by the two teams.After trading the lead back and forth a couple of times the Birds fell behind 20-18.They then went on a 13-0 run to take a 31-20 lead.The Sycamores made a small run to finish out the half down 6 at 33-27.

Indiana State came out strong in the second half behind the urging of their sellout home court fans and forged a 35-35 deadlock with 17:30 to go in the game.However, the Birds went on an 18-4 runover the next 7 minutes to stretch their lead up to 56-43.Skipp nailed three 3 pointers durng the run.Indiana State was unable to get the defecit under 5 the rest of the way.Every time they got within striking distance of the Birds they were held off ,surprisingly ,by the free throw shooting of LeRoy Watkins who finished 6 for 7 from the line.

LeRoy finished the game with a season high 14 points.He was 4 of 5 from the field to go along with the excellent free throw shooting.Rico of course led the team with 23 points and 14 rebounds.He was 3 of 5 from 3 point land.He also had 2 assists,a steal and a blocked shot in 34 minutes of action.Dan Muller scored 9 points,had 2 steals and grabbed 3 boards.Skipp Schaefbauer had 2 rebounds,2steals and 3 assists to go along with the 18 points.Jamar also had a fine game scoring 5 points,2 steals,grabbing 6 rebounds and handing out 11 assists.

ILLINOIS ST (75)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Hill            34  9-14   2-2  3-14  2  2   23
Muller          36   4-9   0-0   1-3  1  2    9
Watkins         26   4-5   6-7   1-2  0  3   14
Schaefbauer     32  6-11   0-0   0-2  3  4   18
Smiley          34   0-9   5-6   3-6 11  2    5
Hansell         15   2-2   0-0   2-3  3  3    4
Holmstrom        1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Stotler          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Pierson          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Cartmill        10   0-2   0-0   0-1  1  3    0
Crowley          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Hein             1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
vanVelzen        1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Gibbons          7   1-2   0-2   0-1  0  1    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-54 13-17 10-32 21 20   75
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.481, FT-.765. 3-Point Goals: 10-25, .400 (Hill 3-5, Muller 1-6, Schaefbauer 6-11, Smiley 0-2, Cartmill 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 2 (Hill, Muller). Turnovers: 18 (Hansell 4, Hill 4, Schaefbauer 3, Cartmill 2, Muller 2, Smiley 2, Gibbons). Steals: 9 (Muller 2, Schaefbauer 2, Smiley 2, Cartmill, Hansell, Hill).

INDIANA ST (66) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Hart 31 3-7 4-5 3-5 2 1 10 Wells 24 5-7 7-8 2-7 3 4 17 Renn 33 4-8 1-2 3-6 2 2 9 Green 37 4-9 3-4 1-6 4 3 13 Menser 31 2-11 2-2 1-3 2 3 7 Adkins 22 2-7 0-0 0-1 1 2 4 Spraul 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Luchetti 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Anderson 18 2-8 2-2 4-5 0 2 6 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 22-57 19-23 14-33 14 17 66 _______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.386, FT-.826. 3-Point Goals: 3-17, .176 (Hart 0-1, Green 2-6, Menser 1-6, Adkins 0-4). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3 (Green 2, Hart). Turnovers: 17 (Wells 6, Hart 4, Anderson 3, Adkins 2, Green, Menser). Steals: 11 (Renn 4, Adkins 2, Green 2, Anderson, Hart, Wells). __________________________________ Illinois St 33 42 - 75 Indiana St 27 39 - 66 __________________________________ Technical fouls: None. Attendance: 10,206. Officials: Steve Morris, Art Brown, Bill Kaminski.