NORMAL, Ill. – A 29-point, 10-rebound double-double from Milik Yarbrough, and a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double from Phil Fayne helped the Illinois State Redbirds overcome the loss of leading scorer Keyshawn Evans in an 84-81 overtime win over Indiana State in the 2017 finale for both squads.
How It Happened
Indiana State jumped ahead quickly, leading 9-2 through the first two and a half minutes. The Sycamores would not relinquish their lead until Matt Hein hit one of his four three-pointers in the game to push Illinois State to a one-point, 15-14 lead. That lead vanished behind a an Indiana State 11-3 run; however, the Redbirds bounced back using a 10-0 run to take a three-point lead with 4:22 to play in the half on a Yarbrough dunk. Indiana State closed the half strong, and used a 9-2 run late to take a four-point, 36-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half Illinois State pushed ahead quickly, using an 11-4 run to start the half and led by three with 15:38 to play in the contest. Indiana State rallied, and scored 13 consecutive points to push its lead to double-digits at 53-43. The lead was 10 with 7:37 to play in the contest before the Redbirds started their rally, and took its first lead since early in the second half on a pair of Taylor Bruninga free throws with 1:40 to play. The Sycamores’ Qiydar Davis made two free throws with 34 seconds left to give the visitors a two-point lead; however, Fayne picked up a tip-in with 31 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, and Madison Williams blocked a last-second three-point attempt to send the game to an overtime period.
The overtime stanza was Illinois State’s third of the season, while Indiana State had played in five previous overtime periods (including four against Ohio). In the overtime period, the Redbirds never trailed, scoring quickly on a jumper by Yarbrough. A Yarbrough free throw with 28 seconds left put Illinois State up four, and the last 20-some seconds was a free throw battle, and Illinois State got the final dagger with a free throw from Bruninga with nine seconds left. Yarbrough blocked a lay-up attempt from the Sycamores’ Brenton Scott to secure the win for the Redbirds, and sent Illinois State to a 2-1 record in overtime games, and Indiana State to 0-3.
Key Moment
Two blocked shots, the first from Williams with seconds left in regulation to help secure the overtime period, and the second from Yarbrough with three seconds left in overtime to fend off the comeback try.
Inside the Box Score
- Yarbrough scored a game-high 29 points, his fifth consecutive game of 20 or more points, and making 9-of-19 shots from the field, and 9-of-13 from the free throw line.
- Yarbrough added 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and three steals, for his second double-double of the season.
- Fayne scored 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field while adding 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double this year.
- With Yarbrough and Fayne’s double-double, it marks the second time in the last four games that the Redbirds have had two players with double-doubles in the same game (the other was against Ole Miss on Dec. 16).
- Bruninga scored 14 points, are tied for his second-highest scoring output of the season, and his fifth game in double-figure points.
- Hein doubled his previous career-high with 14 points, making 4-of-7 from long range, while also setting a career-high with six rebounds.
- The win was Illinois State’s first this season when trailing at halftime.
- The Redbirds out-rebounded Indiana State 42-to-40, the fourth time in the last six games that it has happened.
Stat of the Game
19 percent: Illinois State held Indiana State – who came into the game ranked 37th in the country in three-point field goal percentage – to 4-of-21 shooting, just 19 percent shooting from beyond the arc. It was the second consecutive game that the Redbirds have held a strong-shooting team to well below its average, after holding then-NCAA leader Evansville to 1-of-10 shooting.
