Men's Basketball Bill Salyer

Redbirds Advance to NIT Semifinals, Hold off Dayton 61-55

DAYTON, Ohio– For the first time in program history, the Illinois State men's basketball team is advancing to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Semifinals, topping the host Dayton Flyers in front of 10,444 by a 61-55 final score on Wednesday evening inside UD Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Redbirds came out of the gate strong, scoring the first 13 points of the game, including two three-pointers from Johnny Kinziger. Dayton came immediately back with six in a row, and eventually closed the gap to five at 19-14, setting up a 12-0 run for ISU, extending the Redbird advantage to 17 at 31-14 with 5:54 to play in the opening half. With the Redbirds leading by 17, the Flyers closed the opening half on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 10 heading into the locker room at halftime.

The teams traded baskets to start the second half, before ISU ran off a 9-0 run to extend to a 19-point lead through the first seven and a half minutes of the final period. The Redbirds held onto their double-digit lead until the Flyers closed to eight with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. The ISU advantage was cut to as few as five, as late as with 43 seconds to play in the game; however, the Redbirds were able to hold off the late Flyer rally in the six-point win.

KEY STATISTICS / NOTES

  • The Redbirds opened with the starting lineup of 3 Mason Klabo, 4 Landon Wolf, 11 Johnny Kinziger, 14 Boden Skunberg, and 35 Chase Walker
    • This is ISU's ninth game with this starting lineup
  • The Redbirds advance to the NIT Semifinal for the first time in program history, after the team advanced to the quarterfinal in 1977, 1987, and 1996
  • Illinois State, with six consecutive postseason wins, has the longest active postseason win stream in the NCAA
  • ISU wore its throwback red uniform
  • Dayton won the opening tip
  • ISU's first points of the game came from Johnny Kinziger with a three-pointer at 18:30 on the first half clock
    • This game was the second time that he scored the Redbirds' first points this season – both on a three-point basket
  • Illinois State led 33-to-23 at halftime
  • Dayton's 23 first half points are tied for the fewest given up by ISU in the first half in the program's NIT history, equal to the 23 allowed to Mount Saint Mary's during the 1996 tournament
    • The total is tied for the sixth-fewest first half points that ISU has given up this season
  • ISU's 13-0 run to start the game is tied for the seventh-longest scoring run this season for ISU, and the Birds added another run, 12-0, in the first half, as the Birds have 19 runs of 10 or more points this season
  • With 17:16 to play in the first half, Chase Walker became the 48th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points with the Redbirds – and the second this season
    • He scored 13 points in the game, moving past Deontae Hawkins (1,007, 2014-17) into 47th on the school career scoring list
    • Walker pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, the third time this season he has pulled down double-digit rebounds, and it was his second double-double of the year
  • Johnny Kinziger scored 16 points, his 25th game this season with double-digit points, and 69th of his career
    • With his game scoring total putting his career scoring mark at 1,198 career points, he passed Rickey Johnson (1,189, 1986-89), Del Yarbrough (1,191, 1976-80) and Antonio Reeves (1,195, 2019-22) on the school's career scoring list into 28th place
  • Ty Pence scored 12 points, his second consecutive game scoring 10+ points, and the 15th time this season
  • Boden Skunberg's four assists tied a season high, and are two away from his career high

NEXT UP

With the win, Illinois State advances to the NIT Semifinal, and will face off against the winner of Auburn and Nevada on Thursday, April 2 inside Butler's legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse with the game time still to be determined.