By WJBC Staff

NORMAL – Illinois State held Evansville to a season-low 14-for-54 (25.9 percent) shooting effort, and the Redbirds beat the Purple Aces, 62-50, to start 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference and remain undefeated on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena this season.

ISU (9-4, 1-0 MVC) has now won five of its past six games, while UE (9-5, 0-1 MVC) saw its seven-game winning streak end. Phil Fayne led the Redbirds offensively with 17 points, as ISU shot 23-for-61 (37.7 percent) from the field. Fayne also matched a career high with four blocks plus five rebounds. Paris Lee contributed eight points (three shy of 1,000 career points), seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Jaylon Brown topped Evansville with 17 points.

Fayne scored Illinois State’s first six points, and Deontae Hawkins added a jumper followed by a Tony Wills 3-pointer to build an 11-2 advantage at the 17:20 mark. The Redbirds extended their lead to 14-3 before Evansville answered with a 12-2 run over the next seven-and-a-half minutes to pull within 16-15 on a David Howard jumper with 7:50 remaining in the first half.

ISU then manufactured a 14-4 run – including two Lee 3-pointers – to take a 30-19 lead at the 3:05 mark. The teams exchanged baskets over the final 2:25, and Illinois State held a 35-25 halftime advantage. ISU limited Evansville to 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) shooting in the first half, and the Redbirds shot 14-for-34 (41.2 percent) from the field. Lee led all first-half scorers with eight points.

Evansville scored four-straight to start the second half before Fayne converted a three-point play followed by a fast-break alley-oop dunk from Lee to build a 40-29 advantage at the 16:19 mark. A Keyshawn Evans 3-pointer from the top of the key increased Illinois State’s lead to 43-29. The Purple Aces then outscored ISU, 5-2, over the next 1:23 to pull within 45-34 with 11:59 remaining. The Redbirds responded with a 10-2 run, capped by a DJ Clayton baseline 3-pointer, to lead 55-36, at the 8:19 mark.

The Purple Aces made a final push and outscored ISU, 11-3, to pull within 60-50 on a Ryan Taylor 3-pointer with 2:22 left to play. However, McIntosh slammed a Lee alley-oop to stop the run and increase Illinois State’s advantage to 62-50 at the 33-second mark, which proved to be the game’s final score.

Illinois State has now won 13-straight games on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. But, before returning home to face Missouri State Jan. 4 at 8 p.m., the Redbirds first travel to Loyola Sunday, Jan. 1 for a 1 p.m. tipoff, live on ESPN3 and WJBC 1230-AM.