NORMAL, Ill. -- Indiana State could not keep up the momentum gained from a late first half rally as they fell to Illinois State, 76-62 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Sunday afternoon inside Redbird Arena.

Indiana State fell to 11-9, 3-5 MVC while Illinois State improved to 12-9, 5-3 MVC. It was Illinois State's fourth straight win over the Sycamores at Redbird Arena.

Tyreke Key led the way with 18 points as he hit 6-of-9 shots from the field. Jordan Barnes added 14 points to join him in double figures scoring. Illinois State finished the game with a 50.0 field goal percentage (27-of-54) and forced 15 Indiana State turnovers which led to 11 Redbird points. Illinois State also used nine offensive rebounds to hold a 12-4 edge in second chance points in the game.

Emondre Rickman hit a hook shot at the end of the shot clock to answer a Phil Fayne jumper in the paint as the two teams traded buckets on their opening possessions. Fayne would hit a lay-up to push the Redbird advantage up to 12-4 before Christian Williams hit a pair 3-pointers in the opening seven minutes to spur a Sycamore come back and get ISU back within 15-11 as the clock ticked under the 13 minute mark. 

Illinois State would stretch their lead out to 18-11 before Tyreke Key drained a corner 3-pointer at the 11:55 mark to draw the Sycamores within four points. Then on the next possession, Williams would fouled in transition and hit a pair of free throws to draw within 18-16. A Jordan Barnes trifecta with just a few ticks under 10 minutes remaining drew ISU within 20-19 as did a pair of Allante Holston charity tosses one minute later but the Birds answered with a score inside and a Keyshawn Evans 3-pointer with just over seven to go as they took a 28-21 cushion.

Key broke a scoring drought that lasted just over three minutes with a pair of free throws at the 2:43 mark to draw within 30-25. The damage was limited as the Sycamore defense likewise stymied the Redbirds and a put back lay-up from Kessinger as the clock ticked under the two minute mark got the Sycamores within 30-27. 

Six of the final eight Sycamore points were scored by Key as he went into double figures with an alley-oop dunk with just over a minute to go as well as two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining to trim the Redbird lead down to 37-31 at the half. Key led the way with 10 points while Williams added eight.

Clayton Hughes buried a jumper in transition with 17:03 on the clock to trim the Redbird cushion down to 42-37 but the Redbirds answered with five in a row on their next two possessions before a Key lay-up was awarded due to goaltending which made it 47-39 with 15:40 remaining. Illinois State would score nine of 11 and a lay-up from Rey Idowu on consecutive trips forced the Sycamores to call a timeout with 13:45 to go as the Redbird advantage grew to 51-39.

A driving lay-up by Key made it a 54-44 contest with 9:32 to go but the Redbirds came back with the game's next six points to stretch the lead back out to 16 points. Barnes ended a two and a half minute scoring drought with a pair of free throws but the Redbirds answered with a second chance bucket from Phil Fayne which turned into a conventional 3-point play with 6:52 remaining for the 63-46 advantage.

The Redbird lead hit its peak at 20 points when Illinois State led 68-48 with 5:39 to go. The Sycamores scored six in a row to get back within striking distance at 68-54 with just under four minutes to go which forced the Redbirds to call another second half timeout.

The Redbirds placed two scorers in double figures, led by Phil Fayne with 26 points.

The Sycamores will conclude the current two-game MVC road swing when they travel to Southern Illinois on Wednesday, January 30. Tip-off is set for 9:00 pm (ET) and will be telecast live on the MVC TV Network, including Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Midwest, NBC Sports Chicago as well as ESPN3 (outside of the Valley's footprint) and Fox Sports Go.