McLean County Times

Illinois State University's men's basketball team narrowly lost their season opener against the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks with a final score of 67-65. The game, held on Monday evening in Normal, Illinois, saw the Redbirds make a strong comeback attempt that ultimately fell short due to cold shooting.

Freshman Jack Daugherty made an impressive debut for Illinois State by scoring 15 points and making five three-pointers. This achievement ties him for the fourth-most three-point makes by a freshman in the program's history. Chase Walker contributed a career-high 13 points, while Ty Pence added 12 points and Landon Wolf scored 10.

Walker and Dalton Banks each recorded seven rebounds, marking a new career-high for Walker. Pence also set personal bests with six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Banks led the game with six assists and three steals.

The match began evenly with both teams tied at 15 points before Illinois State gained a slight lead through successful three-pointers from Johnny Kinziger and Daugherty. However, UT Martin capitalized on ISU's shooting struggles in the second half to build a significant lead. Despite ISU's late surge reducing their deficit to just one point twice in the closing moments, they could not overcome UT Martin's advantage.

Illinois State shot 29% from the field overall and struggled particularly from beyond the arc with only eight successful shots out of 41 attempts (19.5%). They performed better at free throws with a conversion rate of approximately 75%. In contrast, UT Martin shot nearly 40% from the field.

The Redbirds will have another opportunity to secure their first win when they face North Dakota State Bison on Thursday in Fargo.