Illinois State vs. Northern Iowa: Full Game Preview

Illinois State

(17-14, 5-8 away)

Northern Iowa

(18-13, 13-4 home)

Venue: Scottrade Center

9:35PM ET / 6:35PM PT, March 08, 2013

Team Leaders

	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Illinois State	T Brown 18.1	J Carmichael 9.4	K Keane 3.3
Northern Iowa	A James 12.6	J Koch 6.5	D Mitchell 3.5

Illinois State squares off against Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Tournament at Scottrade Center on Friday. Tipoff is at 9:35 p.m. EST and you can see it on MVC Network. The Redbirds lost to the Panthers 80-72 on Mar. 2 and are 2-10 against them over the last four years.

In spite of 28 points and nine rebounds from Tyler Brown, the Redbirds came up short 80-72 against Northern Iowa on Mar. 2. He leads the team with 17.6 points per game and 1.6 steals per game. For the Panthers, Jake Koch put up 18 points and 11 rebounds in the 80-72 win over Illinois State on Mar. 2. He is averaging 10.5 points per game in addition to a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game.

Illinois State appears to have a key statistical advantage over Northern Iowa in one area, scoring, where the Redbirds have an edge over the Panthers, 75.4 points per game to 66.1 points per game. A key area of strength for Northern Iowa is defensive rebounding percentage at 73.4, which ranks second in their conference (and 17th nationally).

Northern Iowa StatSmack

The Illinois State rebounding leader (Jackie Carmichael, 291 rebounds) has more rebounds than the Northern Iowa rebounding leader (Jake Koch, 203 rebounds).
Bryant Allen is ranked 10th in the Missouri Valley in three-pointers.
Johnny Hill is ranked 10th in the Missouri Valley in assists.
The Illinois State scoring leader (Tyler Brown, 542 points) has more points than the Northern Iowa scoring leader (Anthony James, 341 points).
Tyler Brown is ranked 34th nationally in points, 3rd in the Missouri Valley in three-pointers, and 7th in the Missouri Valley in steals.
The Illinois State blocks leader (Jackie Carmichael, 60 blocks) has more blocks than the Northern Iowa blocks leader (Jake Koch, 39 blocks).
You'll do better on next semester's exams, right? Illinois State currently has a higher Academic Progress Rate (973 to 970) than Northern Iowa, per the NCAA.
Be afraid. Illinois State has blown out more teams than Northern Iowa this season (eight blowouts vs. four).
Jon Ekey is ranked 7th in the Missouri Valley in blocks.
Illinois State has a potent offense, scoring more points (75.4 per game vs. 66.1 per game) than Northern Iowa this season.
Jackie Carmichael is ranked 37th nationally in points, 15th nationally in rebounds, and 50th nationally in blocks.

IllSt Players		Mins	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO
B+	J. Carmichael	31	17	9	1	1	2	2
B	Tyler Brown	29	18	4	3	1	0	3
C	Johnny Hill	25	8	4	3	1	0	2
C	Bryant Allen	28	9	2	2	1	0	1
C	Jon Ekey	23	7	4	1	1	1	1
C	John Wilkins	20	7	3	1	0	1	1
C-	Nick Zeisloft	15	5	1	1	0	0	0
D+	Kaza Keane	19	3	2	3	1	0	2
D+	Geoffrey Allen	8	4	3	1	1	0	1
D	Jordan Threloff	8	3	2	0	0	0	0
D	Zeke Upshaw	7	2	1	1	0	0	0
D	Matt Stacho	2	1	0	0	0	0	1
D	Anthony Cousin	9	1	1	1	0	0	1

UNI Players		Mins	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO
B-	Jake Koch	29	11	7	2	1	1	2
B-	Seth Tuttle	26	11	6	2	1	1	2
C+	Anthony James	32	13	4	2	1	0	3
C+	Marc Sonnen	0	10	2	1	1	0	1
C+	Deon Mitchell	27	9	2	4	1	0	3
C-	Matt Bohannon	22	5	2	0	0	0	1
D+	Chip Rank	15	3	2	1	0	0	1
D+	Nate Buss	10	4	1	0	0	0	0
D	M. Singleton	7	2	2	0	0	0	0
D	Austin Pehl	6	1	2	0	0	0	0
D	Max Martino	9	1	1	0	0	0	0
D	Matt Morrison	7	2	1	1	0	0	0
F	Chris Olivier	16	5	4	1	0	2	2