McLean County Times

The Illinois State men's basketball team secured a narrow victory against the UIC Flames with an 81-79 win in Chicago. The Redbirds turned a five-point deficit into a four-point lead late in the game, thanks to a crucial 9-0 run.

Chase Walker led the team with a career-high 31 points, shooting 10-of-14 from the field and making all but three of his free throws. Jordan Davis contributed significantly by scoring 17 points, including five three-pointers. Malachi Poindexter added 12 points to the team's tally.

Walker also dominated the boards with nine rebounds, while Ty Pence grabbed eight off the bench. Both Walker and Dalton Banks provided four assists each. The Redbirds displayed efficient ball handling with only eight turnovers against 17 assists.

Illinois State will continue their road trip to face Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday, February 8th.

The game began with UIC taking an early lead before Illinois State responded with an eight-point run. The first half saw multiple lead changes until ISU pulled ahead by eight at halftime. In the second half, UIC quickly tied the score, leading to a closely contested battle for much of the period.

With just over three minutes left, UIC led by five after consecutive three-pointers. However, Illinois State regained control through key shots from Davis and Poindexter followed by Walker's successful three-point play.

Illinois State shot 51.9% from the field and made nearly half of their attempts from beyond the arc while converting over three-quarters of their free throws. This marked their tenth game this season achieving high shooting percentages across these categories.

For UIC, Tyem Freeman scored 18 points while Jordan Mason added 15, Javon Jackson had 12, and Sasa Ciani finished with ten points.

The Redbirds used a starting lineup featuring Dalton Banks, Landon Wolf, Jordan Davis, Johnny Kinziger, and Chase Walker for the fifth time this season. Notably among individual performances was Jack Daugherty moving up in freshman single-season three-pointers rankings and Malachi Poindexter scoring double figures consecutively for two games.

Chase Walker's performance included reaching double figures for his third straight game above twenty points as well as recording ISU's first thirty-point game since February last year when Johnny Kinziger achieved similar success against Indiana State.

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