TERRE HAUTE, Ind.  – Indiana State enjoyed its best defensive outing of the season by limiting visiting Illinois State to just 31 percent shooting and 52 points as the Sycamores earned a 65-52 win over the Redbirds on Hall of Fame Day in front of 3,723 fans inside Hulman Center.
 
The Sycamores snapped a two-game losing skid to improve to 9-6, 2-2 MVC while Illinois State dropped to 6-10, 1-3 MVC. Indiana State is now a perfect 6-0 at home this season and improved to 9-1 under 10^th-year head coach Greg Lansing against Illinois State inside Hulman Center. ISU improved to a perfect 22-0 under coach Lansing when holding teams to 53 points or less with the victory and defensive performance.
 
Jake LaRavia, coming off his first MVC Newcomer Of The Week honor tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds to post his first career double-double and the first by a Sycamore this season. In fact, it marked the first double-double by a Sycamore since Jordan Barnes tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds at Northern Iowa on January 16, 2019 – a span of 360 days.
 
Tyreke Key once again led the Sycamores with 17 points and he narrowly missed a double-double by adding eight rebounds and drew eight fouls in the contest. Jordan Barnes tallied 12 points and posted five rebounds while knocking down four 3-pointers in the win. Barnes now has 1,363 points in his career – needing 69 more to move into the ISU all-time Top 10 and owns 250 career 3-pointers just 20 away Brenton Scott who sits at No. 2 all-time for the Trees.
 
Cooper Neese returned to double figures scoring with 10 points as he hit a pair of treys from distance and added a pair of assists.
 
ISU rebounded from a 35.5 shooting mark in the first half by hitting 14-of-28 from the field after the break and finished 25-of-59 (42.4 percent) from the field. The Sycamore defense was on point for most of the game as they forced 15 Redbird turnovers and limited the Illinois State to just 18-of-58 from the field (31.0 percent). Tre Williams set a new career high with four blocked shots as the team posted seven.
 
Indiana State did struggle from the charity stripe as they hit 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) and Key saw his 18 free throws made in a row streak end when he misfired on his first attempt. ISU did share the ball well as they recorded 17 assists on 25 made field goals, paced by four dimes from LaRavia.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Key and Jordan Barnes got the scoring going early for the Sycamores and forced an early Illinois State timeout. LaRavia would score inside as the Sycamores scored the game's first eight points. The Redbirds recorded their first field goal at the 15:27 mark on a jumper by DJ Horne to cut the Sycamore lead down to 8-3. After the margin got down to three points, Key scored all six points in a row as part of a 6-0 run to run the advantage back out to 14-5.
 
An Antonio Reves steal and fast break lay-up with 5:20 on the clock whittled the Sycamore lead down to 20-17, but Jordan Barnes hit a 3-pointer and Kessinger scored inside as the clock ticked under the 3 minute mark to return the lead to 25-17. LaRavia would lay the ball in off the feed from Neese with just under a minute to go and Dedric Boyd would convert 1-of-2 free throws with 14 seconds remaining as the Sycamores owned a 29-21 advantage at the half.
 
An early 5-0 run by the Sycamores in the second half pushed the lead into double figures capped by a Key free throw with 14:43 on the clock for the 38-26 lead. Jordan Barnes posted his fourth 3-pointer of the game as the clock approached the 12 minute mark to settle ISU ahead 45-30.
 
The Sycamores allowed a Horne 3-pointer with 13:45 remaining and that would be hit for nearly six minutes of game time until Zach Copeland hit a pair of free throws with 7:50 to go for the Redbirds next points. During the run, Neese buried a corner 3-pointer on the fast break attack to stretch the advantage out to 50-32 with 8:21 remaining. In fact, Copeland's 3-pointer with 6:09 to go would be the Redbirds' next bucket and that capped a 5-0 Illinois State run to stay within 52-40 of the Sycamores.
 
Senior Bronson Kessinger banked in a 3-pointer with 5:07 remaining to stretch the lead back out to 55-40 and LaRavia would score inside off the feed by Jordan Barnes as ISU led 63-45 with just over two minutes remaining.
 
DJ Horne paced the Redbirds with 18 points in the game.
 
Indiana State stays at home to take on in-state rival Evansville on Wednesday, January 15 at 7 pm (ET) inside Hulman Center. The game will feature a halftime performance by Dave and Dania – Quick Change – an act that has rose to national stardom through their appearance as a finalist on America's Got Talent as well as numerous appearances around the country at NBA, NHL, NFL and NCAA Basketball games.