Illinois State has MVC semifinal date with Shockers
Illinois State sophomore guard Paris Lee doesn’t need much of a scouting report when it comes to Wichita State point guard Fred VanVleet.
“I played against (VanVleet) in high school, actually,” Lee said. “So I guess I feel like I know his game a little bit ... he’s tough. He’s a lot to handle.”
Lee and VanVleet did go head-to-head in December 2011, with Lee’s Maywood (Ill.) Proviso East team beating VanVleet’s Rockford (Ill.) Auburn squad, but that was way, way before VanVleet became one of the top college point guards in the country and before he was paired with backcourt mates Ron Baker and Tekele Cotton.
And way before Saturday afternoon’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal game between Illinois State (20-11) and No. 8 WSU (28-3).
The Redbirds advanced with a hard-fought, 71-67 victory over Evansville on Friday in the quarterfinals. Illinois State wasn’t able to get any breathing room until the final two minutes, thanks to a three-pointer by Deontae Hawkins, followed immediately by a three-point play by Hawkins to put the Redbirds up 69-64 with 1:30 left.
Illinois State, which was swept by WSU in the regular season, trailed 62-61 with 3:30 left.
“We’ve been doing pretty well in the conference, but not as well as we want,” Illinois State center Reggie Lynch said. “Evansville was a lot tougher tonight than the two times we faced them this year, and we know Wichita State is going to be a lot more fired up than the two times we played them, also.”
The Redbirds’ took a decidely tempered approach after beating Evansville — as the buzzer sounded, Hawkins was quick to shut down any celebration by his teammates and the locker room was quiet after the win.
The focus had immediately turned to the Shockers.
“We’ll prepare just like we do for any other team,” Illinois State guard Daishon Knight said. “We’ve put the past two games (against WSU) behind us and we’ve got a whole new slate. We’re playing a great team tomorrow and we’ll be prepared for it.”
Illinois State was the only team to play WSU within single digits in both games this season — a 70-62 loss on on Jan. 4 and a 68-62 loss on Feb. 14.
“We’ve got to focus tonight in film, remember the stuff from when we played against (WSU) before and bring that to tomorrow’s game,” Lee said. “It should be a good matchup, because we’ve got good guards as well ... may the best guards win.”
EVANSVILLE (19-12): Brown 2-3 1-2 5, Wing 3-7 1-2 7, Balentine 6-17 4-4 17, Simmons 1-4 0-0 3, Mockevicius 4-6 6-7 14, Benzon 0-1 0-0 0, Gibson 0-2 2-2 2, Brzoja 3-5 2-6 11, Moore 1-1 4-4 6, Howard 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-49 20-27 67.
ILLINOIS ST. (20-11): Lee 1-2 3-6 5, Knight 3-8 5-6 12, Lynch 4-9 1-1 9, Hawkins 6-12 1-1 17, Akoon-Purcell 4-9 4-6 13, Hunter 0-1 1-2 1, Jones 3-3 0-0 6, McIntosh 0-1 1-2 1, Wills 0-1 1-2 1, McCloud 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 23-49 17-26 71.
Halftime—Evansville 37-31. 3-Point Goals—Evansville 5-14 (Brzoja 3-5, Simmons 1-3, Balentine 1-6), Illinois St. 8-19 (Hawkins 4-6, McCloud 2-3, Akoon-Purcell 1-2, Knight 1-5, Hunter 0-1, Lee 0-1, Wills 0-1). Fouled Out—Akoon-Purcell, McIntosh, Wing. Rebounds—Evansville 31 (Mockevicius 7), Illinois St. 32 (Hawkins 7). Assists—Evansville 16 (Balentine, Brzoja, Gibson 4), Illinois St. 16 (Lee 4). Total Fouls—Evansville 24, Illinois St. 24. A—9,015.
This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Illinois State has MVC semifinal date with Shockers."