McLean County Times

The Illinois State Redbirds secured a narrow victory over UAB with an 84-83 win in the Paradise Jam on Saturday. The match, held in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, saw Johnny Kinziger lead the Redbirds with 21 points while Chase Walker contributed 16 points and eight rebounds.

With this win, Illinois State advances to the fourth-place game and will face George Washington on Monday. Kinziger's performance marked his second 20-point game of the season. Dalton Banks and Ty Pence each added 10 points to ISU's score, while Jack Daugherty scored nine points.

ISU out-rebounded UAB 29-to-23, with Walker pulling down a game-high eight rebounds. Dalton Banks led with five assists for ISU, while Kinziger and Pence provided three assists each. Banks also shared the team lead in steals alongside Kinziger and Pence.

The game began with ISU scoring first through a jumper by Kinziger followed by a three-pointer from Landon Wolf. UAB responded with a run that gave them an eight-point lead midway through the first half. The first half ended with UAB leading 43-39 after multiple ties and lead changes.

In the second half, ISU regained control following an eight-point run but kept their lead within three points throughout most of the period. With seconds left in the game, Alejandro Vasquez of UAB hit a crucial three-pointer to put his team ahead; however, Kinziger was fouled shortly after and successfully made both free throws to clinch victory for ISU.

ISU shot 56.6% from the field and made 40.7% of their attempts from long range while converting on 76.5% of free throws. In comparison, UAB shot slightly lower at 55.4% from the field but had a higher percentage from beyond the arc at 42.1%.

Alejandro Vasquez led UAB off the bench with 19 points, followed by Efrem Johnson who scored 18 points and Yaxel Lendelborg who added another 14 along with seven assists.

Illinois State maintained its starting lineup for five consecutive games which includes Dalton Banks, Landon Wolf, Johnny Kinziger, Ty Pence, and Chase Walker — achieving four wins out of these matches.

Kinziger noted his impressive shooting accuracy making eight out of twelve shots from charity stripe along two successful long-range shots during this matchup against Blazers.