TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State men's basketball earned a hard-fought 94-89 victory over Illinois State on Wednesday night inside the Hulman Center.
 
Every Sycamore who saw action found the scoring column, led by Xavier Hall with 16 points. Enel St. Bernard and Sterling Young followed with 14 points apiece, while Ian Scott added 13 and Derek Vorst chipped in 11. Scott and St. Bernard paced the team on the glass with six rebounds each, with Vorst adding five, and Jo Van Buggenhout and Young shared the game high with five assists. St. Bernard also contributed defensively with two blocked shots.
 
Indiana State opened the game with back-to-back baskets from a Vorst dunk and a floater by Young, while the Sycamore defense held Illinois State scoreless until the 16:23 mark. The Redbirds responded with an 8-0 run, which was halted by a St. Bernard dunk that ignited a 7-0 surge by the Sycamores to take an 11-8 lead.
 
The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, with Illinois State briefly evening the score at 23-23. St. Bernard again shifted momentum with a dunk, sparking a 14-2 Indiana State run over a 3:17 stretch that featured scoring from five different Sycamores. Illinois State cut the deficit to five in the final minutes of the half, but Scott knocked down two free throws to send Indiana State into the break with a seven-point advantage.
 
Young got the scoring started for both teams in the second half as the Sycamores in the first 10 seconds of the half. The teams quickly traded baskets before Vorst's and-one put the Sycamores back up 10. A pair of three-pointers by Wagner and Young were sandwiched by a Redbird three, with Indiana State holding a 10-point, 64-54 lead at the first media at 15:39.
 
The Sycamores allowed only five Redbird shot attempts over the next three minutes and 15 seconds as Indiana State scored nine points to lead 70-58 with 11:57 to play. Back-to-back makes from Sivert Wærstad Nordheim and Indiana State gave them their largest lead of the game, 79-63, with about 10 minutes remaining in the game.
 
Illinois State put together a run from the 10-minute mark through the 4:24, outsourcing the Sycamores 13-5 to trail only 84-78 with, forcing a Sycamore timeout.
 
Illinois State brought it within three, 88-87, with 2:11 remaining in the game. St. Bernard knocked down a free throw, grabbed the offensive rebound on the possession, then put back the layup to put Indiana State up four with 45 seconds remaining. A pair of clutch free throws by Young put Indiana State up six, 93-87, with 17 seconds left, before a tip-in by the Redbirds cut it to four.
 
Hall made the final free throw of the game to send Indiana State to victory over the MVC preseason favorite Illinois State, 94-89.
 
News and Notes

• With 26 assists, the Sycamores tied their season high in assists
  • This is the most assists since playing Belmont on Dec. 29, 2025, where they had 24
• With just six turnovers tonight, this marked the fewest turnovers by the Sycamores all season
  • The last time the Sycamores had six or fewer turnovers was Jan. 27, 2024, vs Bradley, where they also recorded six
• This is the fourth time this season that the Sycamores have had four-plus players with 10+ points
  • The last time that this occurred was at Drake on Jan. 4, 2026
• This is the first time since Jan 1, 2026, at UNI that the Sycamores have shot 50%+, shooting 56.1% tonight 
• With the Red Birds shooting 55.4% tonight, this is the first time since Jan. 4, 2026, at Drake that an opponent has shot 50%+ on the Sycamores
• The Red Birds recorded just 28 rebounds, which marks the fewest rebounds against the Sycamores for a DI opponent this season
  • The last time a team had 28 or fewer on the Sycamores was against Illinois State on Feb. 15, 2025, where they also recorded 28
• With 35 points coming off the bench tonight, this marks the most against a DI opponent
• The Sycamores improve to 7-2 when scoring the first basket of the game
• Indiana State is 9-1 when shooting better than their opponent this season
• The Trees are 7-4 this season when they score eight-plus three-pointers
• The Sycamores are 6-1 on the season when outrebounding their opponent
• Indiana State is 3-1 when scoring 90+ points in a game, with the lone loss coming to Bradley in 3OT on Dec. 18, 2025
• The Trees improve to 3-1 when five players score in double-digits 
• Sterling Young recorded his MVC high of 14 points
  • He also tied a season high with five assists
• Camp Wagner tied his career high with four assists
• Sivert Nordheim recorded his MVC high with seven points
  • He also marked a season high vs. a D1 opponent
• Enel St. Bernard recorded a MVC high with 14 points
  • He also recorded an MVC high of six rebounds
  • Going 4-for-6 from the free-throw line marked a career best
  • With two blocks, he ties his season high and records a new MVC high
• Xavier Hall tied his MVC high with 16 points
  • He also tied his season high of  three-pointers made with two

Postgame press conference presented by Team Green Law
 

Up Next
Indiana State takes to the road to face Murray State in Murray, Ky. on Saturday, January 17. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Basketball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.