TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State got hot from 3-point range early and stayed that way throughout en route to a 73-50 victory over visiting Illinois State in front of 3,253 fans inside Hulman Center.

The Sycamores earned the season split against the Redbirds and improved to 14-13, 6-9 MVC while the Redbirds fell to 14-14, 7-8 MVC. The win marked the second consecutive win of at least 20 points over Illinois State inside Hulman Center and improved the Sycamores to 8-1 in the building against the Redbirds under the direction of ninth-year coach Greg Lansing. The win was victory No. 1,495 in the history of the program -- just five away from the historic 1,500 win mark.

All of the success was not just on the offensive end as the Sycamores forced and Illinois State season-best 20 turnovers and earned 13 steals. That created a whopping 21-12 disparity in points scored off of turnovers as the Redbirds lost for the fifth consecutive game. Indiana State improved to 93-10 under Lansing when holding teams to 63 points or less and are a perfect 21-0 when limiting the opposition to 53 points or less. Christian Williams and Tyreke Key each recorded three assists to pace the team.

But it was the hot shooting of the Sycamores -- especially from 3-point range that proved to be the difference. While Indiana State hit 29-of-57 shots from the field (50.9 percent), they also connected on 11-of-25 from distance (44 percent) as they raced to a 37-21 halftime lead and never really allowed the Redbirds back in it.

Tyreke Key got back to his double digit scoring ways as he hit 7-of-11 from the field and added a 4-of-6 mark from 3-point range to lead the way with 21 points. It marked the ninth in the last 10 games that Key has scored in double figures and hit at least 50 percent of his field goal attempts. Key entered the game leading the MVC in scoring.



Cooper Neese continued his improved shooting as well as he parlayed a 7-of-11 effort from the field, including three 3-pointers made to score 17 points. ISU tallied 15 assists in the game on 29 made field goals. ISU earned a 20-7 edge in bench points, including a late-game 3-pointer by walk-on Tyeshon Martin to cap the victory.

Indiana State got off to a fast start with Bronson Kessinger scoring inside and then 3-pointers by Neese as well as Key for the quick 8-0 lead. Illinois State would not score first in the game until Milik Yarbrough hit a jumper in the paint just over four minutes in to trim the Sycamore lead down to 8-2. Cooper Neese buried a 3-pointer after the score to stretch the advantage to nine and then De'Avion Washington hit a corner 3-pointer with 11:25 on the clock to push the Sycamore lead out to 16-4 and force the Redbirds to burn a timeout.

It was all part of another 8-0 run capped by Key's trifecta at the 9:45 mark and the Sycamores were sailing early ahead 21-4. When Matt Chastain of Illinois State hit a long jumper with 6:58 on the clock the lead had shrunk to 23-14 but ISU came back with another Key trifecta as they scored six in a row to push ahead 29-14 with just over four minutes before the half. Phil Fayne would score inside for the Birds on their final possession and a 3-pointer at the buzzer fell off the back of the iron to send the Sycamores into the half with a 37-21 advantage.

The Redbirds would respond after halftime with a renewed sense of urgency and got as close as 11 points again on a lay-up by Yarbrough with 14:11 to go which made it 47-36 with 14:11 remaining. A thunderous alley-oop dunk from Barnes to Clayton Hughes with 12:09 to go restored a 54-37 lead as the clock ticked towards the 12 minute mark. With 6:24 remaining, Key drove into the paint and scored to push the lead to 20 for the first time in the game at 64-44 and a late-game 3-pointer by Tyeshon Martin capped the victory which proved to be 73-50 affer the Birds scored with 27 seconds to go.

Phil Fayne paced the Redbirds with 16 points in the game.

ISU now faces a stiff two-game MVC road swing beginning with Missouri State on Saturday, February 23 at 2 pm (ET) from the JQH Arena. The game will be telecast live world wide on ESPN3.