By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Illinois State built a double-digit advantage without missing a shot in the opening five minutes, and the Redbirds never relinquished the lead in a 75-57 home-opening victory over Summit League preseason-favorite Fort Wayne Wednesday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
Deontae Hawkins scored a career-high 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field, including a 5-for-7 effort from beyond the arc to lead five Redbirds in double figures. Meanwhile, DJ Clayton collected a game-best nine rebounds and netted 11 points. Fort Wayne’s Mo Evans led his team with 19 points.
PODCAST: Listen to the postgame interviews with coach Dan Muller and Deontae Hawkins on WJBC.
ISU (1-1) shot 29-for-62 (46.8 percent) from the field comparted to 20-for-50 (40.0 percent) by Fort Wayne (1-2). Illinois State outrebounded the Mastadons, 37-31, and the Redbirds forced 17 turnovers while committing 13.
Illinois State went 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to build a 17-2 advantage in the first five minutes of Wednesday night’s game. The Redbirds initially jumped out to a 10-0 lead with a Phil Fayne free throw followed by a Paris Lee 3-pointer and back-to-back Hawkins trifectas.
Another Lee 3-pointer followed by a Clayton dunk and a Hawkins jumper extended ISU’s advantage to 17-2. ISU did not miss a shot until the 15:24 mark. Fort Wayne’s lone field goal during Illinois State’s initial scoring barrage was made by Xzavier Tayler at the 17:49 mark.
Fort Wayne then scored five-unanswered to trim the Redbird lead to 12 points; however, Lee answered with another 3-pointer as Illinois State went on to lead by as many as 20 points, 39-19, on a Clayton dunk at the 1:30 mark. Fort Wayne ended the first half on a 5-2 run, and ISU led at halftime, 41-24. Hawkins topped all first-half scorers with 13 points, while Clayton added 11.
The Mastadons started the second half with a 7-3 run to pull within 44-31 on a Bryson Scott 3-pointer at the 17:44 mark. Four-straight free throws by John Konchar trimmed the Redbird lead to 12 points, 47-35, with 16:05 remaining.
A 9-0 run by Fort Wayne, from 14:03 to 12:39, reduced ISU’s advantage to nine points, 53-44, on a Konchar tip-in. However, Illinois State answered with a 12-3 run, including five points by Fayne, to establish a 65-47 lead on a Hawkins trifecta at the 7:38 mark. The Redbirds led by double-digits for the remainder of the game en route to the 75-57 victory.
Following Wednesday’s home opener, Illinois State returns to the road to play at Big 12 Conference foe TCU, Monday at 5 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas.
