By Austin Duncan
NORMAL- The Illinois State Redbirds connected on a season-high 15 3-pointers after trailing by as many as 13 in the first half to take down Missouri State 74-61 in the 2015-16 Missouri Valley Conference season opener at Redbird Arena.
Deontae Hawkins broke the seal for the Redbirds scoring the first points of the game, giving the Redbirds an early lead.
Missouri State answered with a 13-0 run to take a 13-4 lead with 11:51 to play in the first half.
Illinois State’s scoring drought was ended nearly seven minutes of play when Devaughn Akoon-Purcell hit a free throw at the 11:14 mark of the first half.
The Bears would continue its scoring barrage, including a layup by Camyn Boone to expand its lead to 21-8.
The Redbirds then put together a run a 14-2 run of its own, including two 3-pointers by a Justin McCloud to cut the MSU lead to 23-22. McCloud would stay hot, hitting another three after a Missouri State score to tie the game at 25 with 1:52 to play.
Illinois State’s hot shooting continued as Devaughn Akoon-Purcell hit a pair of 3-pointers to equal ISU’s biggest lead of the game of four, at 31-27 with 17:37 remaining in the game.
Missouri State scored its first points of the second half on a pair of free throws from Chris Kendrix. The Bears regained the lead on a jump shot by Dequon Miller to give MSU a 37-36 led.
Three 3-point scores by Hawkins 3- sparked a 17-5 run by the Redbirds to regain and expand its lead to 53-42 with 10:48 to play.
The Redbirds, who trailed by as many as 13 in the first half expanded its lead to 61-42 with 8:52 remaining in the game, thanks to a fury of 3-point makes.
Illinois State’s Tony Wills connected on the team’s first 2-point make in nearly five minutes of play to expand ISU’s already large lead.
Missouri State ended the Redbirds 18-0 run on a jump shot by Boone with 7:21 remaining to make the score 65-44 in favor of ISU.
Illinois State would expand its lead to as many as 23 and would lead by at least 13 points for the remainder of the game.
Deontae Hawkins tied the game-high with 17 points, connecting on all five of his 3-point attempts. Devaughn Akoon-Purcell added 14 points. Seven of the nine Redbirds who played 17 or more minutes made at least one 3-pointer. Ten members of ISU got in the score book. Mikyle McIntosh collected a team-high seven rebounds.
Illinois State scored 25 baskets on 17 assists, led by McIntosh’s four assists.
Missouri State’s Dequon Miller collected 17 points for the Bears while Camyn Boone added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Redbirds improve to 7-7 on the season while becoming 1-0 in MVC play. This marks the first MVC opening victory for Dan Muller as head coach of the Redbirds.
Illinois State will continue MVC play as it travels to Drake to take on the Bulldogs on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Redbird Preview will begin at noon.
Listen to postgame comments from head coach Dan Muller and sophomore forward Deontae Hawkins here.
