Illinois State Men’s Basketball Takes Down Northwestern in Exhibition

Image courtesy of Illinois State athletics

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State men’s basketball defeated Big Ten opponent Northwestern 70-64 Sunday night. It was a special day for both programs, with Illinois State legend Doug Collins in attendance to watch his alma mater face his son’s team.

Transfer Noah Cleveland led the Redbirds with 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, nine more than any other player. Cleveland, who transferred to Illinois State from Division III Illinois Wesleyan, is a Bloomington native. He spoke about his first Division I game.

“As soon as I saw the first bucket go in, the nerves kind of went away,” Cleveland said. “I just went out there and played.”

Northwestern head coach, Chris Collins spoke about how important this game was to him and his family.

“The main purpose of this was to honor my family,” Collins said. I appreciate Illinois State and the things they did all weekend. I’m so thankful that we had this game.”

The Redbirds’ returning players also performed well. Johnny Kinziger scored 15 points, Chase Walker added 11 and Mason Klabo contributed eight. Kinziger made three 3-pointers and played a team-high 34 minutes.

As a team, the Redbirds shot just 35.9% from the field and 29.2% from 3-point range. However, the new-look Illinois State team showed it could win a defensive battle, forcing 20 turnovers.

Illinois State’s other transfers also made an impact. Demarion Burch scored six points and played strong defense throughout the night after transferring from rival Bradley. Malik Messina-Moore also scored six points and recorded a team-high three assists.

Head coach Ryan Pedon was proud of his team’s effort against a Big Ten opponent with this being the first time this new Redbirds team took the floor together.

“I was proud of our team, their fight, competitiveness, I think we talk a lot about, especially this time of year, establishing our DNA, “Pedon said. “This was the very first time we’ve taken the floor together.”

The victory marks the start of the Illinois State basketball season with an impressive win over a Big Ten opponent. The Redbirds will look to build on that performance as the season continues.

For all things ISU basketball, stay tuned to wznd.com.