GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. ILLINOIS
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016 -- 7 p.m.
State Farm Center, Champaign, Ill.
LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
ILLINOIS SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 14)—The McKendree University men's basketball team will play its second and final exhibition game of the 2016-17 season on Tuesday as the Bearcats head to Champaign, Ill., for a meeting against the University of Illinois. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the State Farm Center.
Tuesday's contest will air live on the Bearcat Sports Network (
www.glvcsn.com/mckendree). Austin Lagesse will have the call beginning with the pre-game show at 6:50 p.m. The McKendree/Illinois match-up will also air live on the Big Ten Network.
McKendree opened its exhibition slate nine days ago with a 91-84 victory at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville back on Nov. 5. It was the Bearcats' first win against an NCAA Division I program since Dec. 5, 1996, when McKendree took down Southeast Missouri State University. The Bearcats' win over SIUE came in the first meeting between the two program since the 1991-92 campaign.
This past Saturday, McKendree tipped off its regular season schedule with a 97-57 triumph over Robert Morris University-Springfield. Five different players scored in double figures for the Bearcats, including a game-high 27 points for junior guard
Justin Blanks (Barberton, OH/Norton). He was 8-of-13 from the field in his home debut for McKendree while knocking down all eight of his free throw attempts. As a team, the Bearcats connected on 87.1 percent (27-of-31) of their tries from the foul line while limiting the Eagles to just 30.3 percent shooting (23-of-76) from the floor.
Senior guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) added 16 points while freshman center
Nolan Gerling (Germantown, IL/Mater Dei) – who registered 32 points and 14 rebounds in the Bearcats' win at SIUE – helped out against Robert Morris with 14 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Sophomore guard
Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) and junior forward
Rob Hudson (Schaumburg, IL/Conant) chipped in with 10 points each as senior guard
Kyle Yates (Bethalto, IL/Civic Memorial) dished out a game-high eight assists.
Head coach
Harry Statham, who is in his 51
st season as the head coach of the McKendree men's basketball program, collected career win No. 1,102 on Saturday night. Statham is the all-time wins leader in college basketball history at the four-year level, men's and women's combined.
Illinois has won each of its first two regular-season contests, defeating Southeast Missouri 81-62 on Friday before rallying in the second half to post a 79-64 win over Northern Kentucky University. Senior guard Malcolm Hill earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors by averaging 30.5 points and 10 rebounds in the two wins for the Fighting Illini. Hill poured in 40 points during Sunday's win over Northern Kentucky.
This will be the Bearcats' second visit to the State Farm Center in the last four seasons. Back on Oct. 24, 2013, McKendree sprinted to a double-digit lead in the first half before Illinois rallied to post a 101-66 decision. Jackson, Yates and senior forward
Brian Koch (Mt. Vernon, IN/Mt. Vernon) all made their collegiate debuts for the Bearcats in that contest.
Following the game at Illinois, McKendree will play nine of its next 10 games within the friendly confines of the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, beginning with a non-conference tilt Saturday at 7 p.m. against Crowley's Ridge College.
