Hunter's 19 lead Illinois State past Drake 75-57

Feb 1, 2014, 07:25 pm

NORMAL, Ill. -- Reggie Lynch opened the second half with a dunk as Illinois State emphatically pulled away from cold-shooting Drake after halftime for a 75-57 win on Saturday.

Bobby Hunter topped the Redbirds (12-10, 5-5 Missouri Valley Conference) with 19 points and no turnovers. Nick Zeisloft added 15 points, all from deep (5-for-7 on 3-pointers). Lynch finished with 10.

Drake, trailing 43-35 at the half, didn't score until Trevor Berkeley hit a pair of free throws with 14:39 to play. The Bulldogs (12-10, 3-7) didn't make a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. By then, Illinois State led 57-40 before Berkeley scored with 10:26 to play, breaking a string of 10 misses by Drake.

Berkeley finished with a career-high 13 points.

Illinois State was out-rebounded 41-27 but Drake was hampered by 34.5 percent shooting and 14 turnovers. The Redbirds shot 51.1 percent from the field, including 12 of 23 3-pointers.