Illinois State Men’s Basketball Falters in Matchup with North Dakota State, Lose Second Straight

Image Courtesy of Illinois State athletics

FARGO, ND. — Illinois State men’s basketball lost its second consecutive game, traveling up to Fargo, North Dakota to take on North Dakota State in a non-conference matchup.The Redbirds are now 1-3 on the season.

It was a tightly contested game throughout, with 13 lead changes and seven ties being the story of the game. Leading the way for the Redbirds was Malik Messina-Moore, scoring a team high 26 points, making 10 free throws.

The three-point shooting held the Redbirds back, shooting 27% from beyond the arc. However, the free throw shooting improved shooting 86% from the stripe.

Demarion Burch impressed while on the court but left the game with an injury in the second half. He went 4-6 from the field, scoring 12 points.

Chase Walker had his best game of the season despite not being in the starting lineup for the third straight game. He recorded 12 points and a season-high 27 minutes, while also managing to stay out of foul trouble.

The Redbirds’ struggled to shut down Max Iversen, as the Bison freshman recorded 27 points on 6-12 shooting from behind the arc.

Illinois State saw a five point lead in overtime disappear after Iversen made a floater in the paint off of an offensive rebound with two seconds remaining to put the Bison up by one.

Illinois State basketball will be back in action on Tuesday night, returning to CEFCU arena after a two game road trip to face Bellarmine at 7 p.m.

For all things Redbird basketball, be sure to stay tuned to wznd.com.