Senior guard Daishon Knight put his team on his back in the second half of Saturday’s semifinal game against top-seeded Wichita State, scoring 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Redbirds to the victory over the No. 8 ranked Shockers at the Scottrade Center. (Photo courtesy GoRedbirds.com)
By WJBC staff
ST. LOUIS – Senior guard Daishon Knight put his team on his back in the second half of Saturday’s semifinal game against top-seeded Wichita State, scoring 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Redbirds (21-11, 11-7 MVC) to the victory over the No. 8 ranked Shockers (28-4, 17-1 MVC) at the Scottrade Center.
With the win, the Redbirds advance to the MVC Tournament title game for the 11th time in school history and the first time since 2012 against Creighton. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Redbirds, and it marked the first win against a team ranked that high since 1978, when ISU defeated Larry Bird and No. 4 Indiana State.
Knight led a trio of Redbirds in double figures and was just one point shy of his career high of 26 points set earlier this season at Murray State. Reggie Lynch added 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in the win over the Shockers, and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell continued his strong tournament with 10 points and five boards.
Illinois State jumped out to an 8-5 lead early in the game, thanks to four points each from Akoon-Purcell and Knight. The Shockers answered with a 5-2 run to take a 10-8 lead, before a layup by Paris Lee knotted the game at 10-10 about four minutes into the game. With the score tied at 12-12, the Shockers scored eight-straight points to take a 20-12 lead, after back-to-back transition baskets from Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker.
A jumper by Knight ended a near five-minute scoring drought for the Redbirds and cut the Wichita State lead to 20-14, before the Shockers answered right back to extend the lead back out to eight points at 22-14 with nine minutes left in the half. WSU would later widen that lead to 26-14 on a fast break dunk by Baker with 4:03 remaining in the half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Lee and Knight cut the Wichita State lead to six points at 26-20, before Baker and VanVleet each scored to widen the lead back to double digits at 30-20 with 2:06 left before halftime. A bucket by Reggie Lynch with 1:16 left to play cut the WSU lead to 30-22, but two shot attempts with under a minute did not fall and the Redbirds headed to the locker room trailing by eight points.
Deontae Hawkins started the second half off with a three-pointer, his first points of the game, to cut the Shockers’ lead to five at 30-25. The Shockers widened that lead back out to seven points at 36-29, before Knight scored five-straight on a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper in the lane to cut the WSU lead to two at 36-34 at the 16:26 mark.
Following the media time out, Knight scored his seventh-straight point for the Redbirds and tied the game at 36-36. An alley-oop dunk by Lynch from Akoon-Purcell then gave the Redbirds their first lead since early in the first half at 38-36 and the run was extended to 12-0 after a free throw by Lynch made the score 39-36 in favor of the Redbirds with 14 minutes left in the game. Knight added another basket to extend the run to 14-0 and the lead to 41-36, before a layup by VanVleet snapped a five-plus minute scoring drought for the Shockers and cut the ISU lead to 41-38 with 12:09 left in the game.
Wichita State cut that lead to one on a dunk by Tekele Cotton, before Justin McCloud nailed a three-pointer from the corner to stake the Redbirds to a four-point lead at 44-41. WSU answered again with a basket to cut it to one, but Lynch followed with a basket in the paint to widen the lead back to three points at 46-43 with just under 10 minutes left.
ISU would hold on to a slim lead over the next five-plus minutes, until a layup by Darius Carter gave the Shockers a 53-52 lead with 4:14 left in the game. Two free throws seconds later by Paris Lee gave ISU the lead right back, but Carter gave WSU the lead right back on a three-point play a minute later at 56-54.
The back-and-forth continued, as Akoon-Purcell tied the game again at 56-56 with a pair of free throws before Cotton gave the Shockers the lead right back at 58-56. Knight then nailed his third 3-pointer of the game to give the Redbirds a one-point lead at 59-58 and four free throws from MiKyle McIntosh widened the advantage to 63-58 with 39 seconds left in the game.
VanVleet then hit a pair of free throws, after he was fouled by Lynch who headed to the bench with this fifth of the game. The Shockers then stole the in-bounds pass and VanVleet scored the layup to cut the lead to one at 63-62 with 17 seconds left. The Shockers pressured the in-bounds pass once again, and ISU called time out to draw up the play. Following the time out, the Redbirds pushed the ball across half court and took 10 seconds off the clock, before Knight was fouled and made both of his free throws to extend the lead to 65-62. A last-second three-point attempt by VanVleet banged off the rim and the Redbirds secured the upset over the top-seeded Shockers.
Illinois State advances to the championship game Sunday, and will face No. 12 nationally-ranked and MVC tournament No. 2 seeded Northern Iowa. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be nationally broadcast on CBS with Verne Lundquist and Jim Spanarkel on the call. Fans wanting to buy tickets for the game should go to Ticketmaster.com to purchase seats at the Scottrade Center.
Podcast:
Dick Luedke talks with Dan Muller after win over Shockers
http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=4098293
