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McLean County Times

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Northern Iowa edges past Illinois State in last-second win

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Illinois State University Athletics | Illinois State University Athletics

Illinois State University Athletics | Illinois State University Athletics

Despite a strong performance from Illinois State's Chase Walker, who matched his career-high with 27 points, the Redbirds narrowly lost to Northern Iowa Panthers in a thrilling game that ended 85-84. The match took place on Saturday evening at CEFCU Arena.

Walker not only led his team in scoring but also secured nine rebounds, six of which were offensive. His teammates Johnny Kinziger and Jordan Davis contributed significantly as well, scoring 19 and 16 points respectively. Kinziger also led the team with four assists.

Illinois State had an edge in rebounding, out-rebounding Northern Iowa 30-to-26 and matching their season-high with 11 offensive rebounds. They maintained a positive assist-to-turnover ratio of 13-to-9 over the course of the game. Dalton Banks was notable for his defensive play, achieving four steals.

The Redbirds will face Drake Bulldogs next on Wednesday, January 15, at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Northern Iowa began the game with consecutive three-pointers and managed to reduce Illinois State's first-half lead from twelve to seven by halftime. Despite Illinois State extending their lead to ten later in the game, Northern Iowa made a comeback by making eight consecutive shots including five three-pointers.

With just over a minute left on the clock and trailing by four points, Davis hit his fourth three-pointer of the night for Illinois State. After two free throws from Trey Campbell of Northern Iowa and a lay-up from Walker for Illinois State narrowed the gap again. In a tense final moment, Tytan Anderson scored a lay-in as time expired to clinch victory for Northern Iowa.

Campbell was instrumental for Northern Iowa with a career-high of 30 points while Ben Schwieger and Anderson each added 14 points. Anderson also contributed seven rebounds and assists.

Illinois State utilized a new starting lineup consisting of Landon Wolf, Jordan Davis, Johnny Kinziger, Ty Pence, and Chase Walker – marking their fifth different lineup this season.

Walker continued his impressive form by tying several personal records including scoring 27 points and making fourteen free throws which tied an arena record held by Jackie Carmichael.

Jordan Davis achieved double figures for only the second time this season while Johnny Kinziger reached double figures for the thirteenth time this season.

The match marked another occasion where Illinois State made at least half of its three-point attempts (12-of-24) while achieving their highest number of free throws made this season (22).

For more information about Illinois State athletics including tickets or merchandise visit GoRedbirds.com or use the Illinois State Redbirds App.

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