Illinois State Redbirds @ Evansville Purple Aces
| 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|
ILST | 29 | 41 | 70 |
EVAN | 30 | 30 | 60 |
Banyard has 18, Illinois St. beats Evansville 70-60
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Nick Banyard had a career-high 18 points as Illinois State used a strong second half to beat Evansville 70-60 on Thursday night as the Redbirds won the battle for second place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
Illinois State (15-11, 9-4) shocked No. 21 Wichita State 58-53 on Saturday. The Redbirds are three games back of the Shockers in the conference.
Trailing 30-29 at the break, Illinois State's Tony Wills and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell opened the second period with back-to-back treys for a 35-32 lead. The Redbirds pushed that to 58-45 with 5:52 left.
Akoon-Purcell had 14 points, Paris Lee, who had a career-high 19 points in the Wichita State win, finished with 12 and MiKyle McIntosh added 11 for Illinois State.
D.J. Balentine led Evansville (19-7, 8-5) with 19 points. Egidiju Mockevicius had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Adam Wing chipped in 11 points.
Game Information
Evansville, IN
Referee:Rick Randall
Referee:Kelly Self
Referee:Don Daily
2025-26 Standings
| Missouri Valley Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | 16-4 | - | 26-6 |
| Bradley | 13-7 | 3 | 21-13 |
| Illinois State | 12-8 | 4 | 23-13 |
| Murray State | 12-8 | 4 | 20-13 |
| UIC | 12-8 | 4 | 19-16 |
| Northern Iowa | 11-9 | 5 | 23-13 |
| Valparaiso | 11-9 | 5 | 18-15 |
| Southern Illinois | 10-10 | 6 | 16-16 |
| Drake | 6-14 | 10 | 14-20 |
| Indiana State | 4-16 | 12 | 11-21 |
| Evansville | 3-17 | 13 | 7-25 |
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