ISU vs Tennessee
The NCAA Tournament
March 12th
time 6:50 pm
Will be shown on CBS


The #9 seeded Redbirds traveled to Sacramento California to meet #8 seed Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and a chance to play #1 seed Arizona on Saturday March 14th.Things didn't start off well for the Redbirds who were already missing starting shooting guard Skipp Schaefbauer who broke his leg at the MVC tournament. Then starting point guard Jamar Smiley threw out his back the day before the 1st round game in practice and again during pre-game warmups. Steve Hansell and Kyle Cartmill performed admirably in their stead as ISU defeated Tennessee in overtime 82-81.Missing their 2 starting guards wasn't ISU's only hurdle as Dan Muller injured the thumb of his shooting hand and played the entire 45 minutes of the game. Rico Hill had an off night from the field connecting on only 6 of 23 for the night.

ISU went down early to Tennessee by 9 but struggled their way back into the game and trailed by only 3,41-38, at half time. After making some defensive adjustments the Redbirds took control of the game to lead by as much as 9 points. Tennessee chipped away at the lead and sent the game into overtime after a shot by Rico at the buzzer rattled half-way down and then popped out. The lead seesawed back and forth throughout the overtime period with neither team leading by more than 2 points. Tennessee hit a shot with 15.3 seconds to go up 81-79 and the Redbirds moved the ball up the court for the final play of the game. Rico passed the ball to the left corner to Kyle Cartmill who penetrated and fed the ball to an open Dan Muller who layed in the winning shot with 1.8 seconds to go.

ILLINOIS STATE (82)

fg ft tp -- -- -- Hill 6-23 7-11 22 Muller 3-7 0-0 8 Watkins 6-14 6-6 18 Hansell 5-5 5-5 16 Cartmill 3-5 2-2 9 Smiley 0-0 0-0 0 Pierson 0-2 0-0 0 Gibbons 2-4 5-8 9 --------------------------------- Totals 25-60 25-32 82

TENNESSEE (81)

fg ft tp -- -- -- Lee 4-18 0-0 9 Black 8-12 2-2 18 Tor.Harris 3-5 0-0 6 Ton.Harris 1-13 8-11 10 Wharton 8-21 3-3 23 Green 3-5 0-0 7 Baker 0-1 2-2 2 Moore 0-0 0-0 0 Davis 0-2 0-0 0 Victor 2-2 2-3 6 --------------------------------- Totals 29-79 17-21 81

Halftime-Tennessee 41, Illinois State 38. Regulation-72-72. 3-Point goals-Illinois State 7-13 (Hill 3-6, Muller 2-4, Hansell 1-1, Cartmill 1-1, Gibbons 0-1), Tennessee 6-29 (Wharton 4-9, Green 1-2, Lee 1-8, Black 0-1, Baker 0-1, Davis 0-2, Ton.Harris 0-6). Fouled out-Tor.Harris. Rebounds-Illinois State 41 (Muller 10), Tennessee 46 (Lee 11). Assists-Illinois State 19 (Hansell, Cartmill 6), Tennessee 15 (Ton.Harris 9). Total fouls-Illinois State 19, Tennessee 22. Attendance-NA.