The Illinois State men’s basketball team lost to Northern Iowa, 74-52, in the quarterfinal game of the Arch Madness tournament Friday.
The game at the Enterprise Center was highlighted by poor shooting throughout the contest for ISU. Redbird shooters went 15-46 from the field. After making back-to-back 3-point attempts early, the Redbirds proceeded to miss all but one of its final 18 shots from beyond. Forward Chase Walker led the team with 11 points.
“I would die for these people up here and the people in our locker room,” said a teary-eyed Walker postgame. “So I just want to know that like we we gave it our best, like I promise we did.”
In the second half, the Redbirds had made just one field goal with 10:50 to go. This was after a first half in which UNI jumped out to a 10-2 lead. ISU quickly brought the game back within two points, but with a chance to tie, the first two of 13 Chase Walker free throw attempts both missed. The Redbirds would get no closer than within two points of the Panthers the rest of the game.
“We had high aspirations, and we didn't put our best foot forward tonight,” said Ryan Pedon, head coach. “That's a difficult pill to swallow.”
The Redbirds carried a winning streak into the tournament. Illinois State answered a season sweep from UNI a year ago with a sweep of their own. And hours before the game, first-seed Belmont lost 100-79 to Drake, clearing the way for one of Illinois State or Bradley to earn a conference tournament appearance in the latest edition of the "War on 74." Bradley then beat Valpo in double overtime just before tipoff of the Illinois State game.
“Expectations were high. We had very high expectations, thinking that we were going to do some good things this year,” said Illinois State fan David Sowa, of Bloomington. “And we did not necessarily live up to those expectations.”
Guard Johnny Kinziger played the most minutes of the game for either team. He finished with eight points.
“Trying to free Johnny up, you know, it was difficult,” said Pedon.
Illinois State got much of its scoring from the free throw line. ISU scored 19 of 52 points from the line [19-28], while Northern Iowa only attempted 11.
“The 3s weren't working, so the attacking nature of our approach needed to keep us above water,” said Pedon.
The Panthers instead scored 24 points from 3-point attempts, without which the Panthers still would have won by two.
Northern Iowa will play the Bradley Braves on Saturday at 5.
