McLean County Times

In the opening round of the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, the Illinois State Redbirds secured a victory over the Missouri State Bears with a final score of 70-54. The game took place in St. Louis, Missouri.

Illinois State's Johnny Kinziger led his team with 13 points, all scored in the first half. He made three out of five shots from long range and contributed six rebounds and three assists. Dalton Banks added 12 points to the team's tally while also providing eight assists, marking his 400th career assist. Banks tied for sixth place in Illinois State's single-season record book for steals with two against the Bears.

Chase Walker nearly achieved a double-double by scoring 11 points and securing nine rebounds. Malachi Poindexter and Landon Wolf contributed 11 and 10 points respectively to the Redbirds' scoreline. Cameron Barnes set a personal best by blocking two shots during this game.

The Redbirds will face off against Belmont Bruins at Enterprise Center on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

Missouri State began strongly, leading by as many as six points early on, but Illinois State responded with a decisive run to take control of the game. The Redbirds ended the first half leading by 15 points after an impressive closing run.

In total, ISU managed to make more than half of their field goal attempts for the seventeenth time this season, achieving a shooting percentage of 51%. Meanwhile, Missouri State was limited to just over one-third of their attempts being successful.

Missouri State players Michael Osei-Bonsu and Vincent Brady II each scored ten points in their effort against ISU.

The starting lineup for Illinois State included Jack Daugherty, Dalton Banks, Jordan Davis, Johnny Kinziger, and Chase Walker. This combination has been used three times this season by ISU coach Ryan Pedon.

The game marked several individual achievements among ISU players: Malachi Poindexter reached double figures for scoring in his ninth appearance this season; Dalton Banks surpassed his career milestone of 400 assists; Landon Wolf scored all his ten points in the second half; Johnny Kinziger led scoring for ISU for the ninth time this year; Cameron Barnes recorded two blocked shots setting a new personal best; Chase Walker maintained strong performance contributing significantly both offensively and defensively throughout playtime.