Terre Haute Ind. - Indiana State fans are literally going wild over Larry Bird and the basketball Sycamores who sent them into a state of ecstasy again Monday night with an 88-79 victory over Southern Illinois.

A Hulman Center record crowd of 10,291 was seldom quiet, often on its feet, berating the officials, and whooping and hollering at practically every time Bird made a move.

He made enough of those to satisfy almost any basketball fan of any loyalty. He scored 31 points, hauled down 17 rebounds, dealt out 8 assists and rode the rescue like the Marines when the Sycamores got in trouble in the closing two minutes.

The victory wasn't as easy as the final score sounded. In fact, it was only 81-79 in the Sycamores favor after Southern's Milt Huggins drilled two free throws with 1:48 remaining.

Bird bailed Indiana State out of this sticky situation by driving in close for a short jumper and the Sycamores cashed five more free throws as the Salukis misfired hurried shots at the finish. It was the 17th straight victory for Indiana State and its seventh without defeat in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Salukis dropped to 3-3 in the conference and 9-7 overall.

Near the end of the game, when it became apparent the Sycamores would escape unscathed the PA announcer enlightened the public that Indiana State was now No. 3 in the Associated Press poll. This revelation brought down the house for about the 10th time on the night.

Southern Illinois put up a spirited duel from start to finish. The Salukis fell behind 10 points late in the first half on two occasions, but rode the shooting of guards Huggins and Wayne Abrams to roar back within one, 45-44, at the break.

With Alex Gilbert taking several feeds from Bird and stuffing them into the basket, the Sycamores moved ahead 61-54 with 14:00 remaining. Indiana State had control of the situation 79-69 with six minutes remaining when Barry Smith cashed two free throws and Huggins bombed twice from the circle to wither the Sycamores lead to 79-75.

Indiana State called time and exhibited a little patience, and Bird shook loose for a short jumper to make it 81-75 at the 4:08 mark. Charles Moore tipped in a basket for Southern and Huggins' free throws made it B1-79 before Bird and his State mates took veer at the line in the last seconds.

The Salukis used a 2-3 zone throughout in an attempt to stop Bird inside but the 6- foot-9 senior still hit 10 of 20 and 11 of 12 free throws. Gilbert, coming on like gang- users opening both the first and second halfs cashed 10 of 15 shots for his 21 points.

Huggins and Abrams carried most of the load for the Salukis, Huggins scoring 24 points and Abrams 18.