Slow starts have defined Illinois State’s 2020-21 season.
On average, the Redbirds had been outscored 37-34.4 in the opening 20 minutes of their 13 games this season heading into Saturday’s matchup with Valparaiso at Redbird Arena.
That trend continued as Illinois State trailed 38-23 at the break. And although the Redbirds (5-9, 2-6) once again looked better in the second half, it wasn’t enough to complete a comeback in their eventual 69-60 loss to the Crusaders.
“10-2,” said Illinois State coach Dan Muller when asked what stat told the story of the game. “That’s how the game started. We were down 10-2.”
The latest sluggish performance comes after the Redbirds picked up a big win over I-74 rival Bradley Jan. 20. Even in that game, Illinois State trailed 8-2 at the under-16 minutes media timeout.
Muller said he noticed his team didn’t look completely prepared for Saturday’s game early on — in warm-ups, to be exact.
“I don’t put a lot of stock in warm-ups every time … but you could tell, ‘Hey guys, we’re not ready to play and you guys know it,’” Muller said. “You can address it, but in the end, the players have to do it and as we’ve said many times, we just didn’t have enough guys ready to play today.”
Muller said there could be multiple reasons for the first-half struggles. Immaturity. Lack of readiness. Flat play. But he’s also working with a young team this year.
The Redbirds’ lone senior, Keith Fisher III, opted out of this season due to COVID-19 concerns. That leaves three returning juniors as the oldest players on the roster, meaning there’s plenty of room for growth — even when things aren’t going well.
“You can definitely learn from every experience … but in the moment, you’ve got to change it or fix it,” Muller said. “You can grow from experience and be more prepared the next time mentally, but … once that ball tips up, you’ve gotta make the plays in live action.”
It was another tough rebounding night for Illinois State, losing the battle of the boards 42-32 while allowing 13 second half points. Two Valparaiso players — redshirt senior guard Eron Gordon (14 points, 10 rebounds) and sophomore forward Donovan Clay (20 points, 12 rebounds) — recorded double-doubles for the first time since 2017.
On the offensive end for the Redbirds, sophomore guard DJ Horne led the way with 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting, including some big threes down the stretch to keep his team in the game. Junior forward Dusan Mahorcic added 15 points and sophomore guard Antonio Reeves had 10.
Illinois State is now 2-6 in Missouri Valley Conference action while Valparaiso improved to 1-3 in league play. The two teams are scheduled to face off in the second game of their series Jan. 24 at 5 p.m.