Illinois State Redbirds defeat Northern Iowa Panthers in conference play

Family Day had Hancock Stadium at standing room only and the tailgates all full. Governor Rauner was on hand as well as comedian Bill Engvall.  Both teams came into the square off with records of 2 wins and a loss.  The Redbirds loss was to Iowa.  The Redbirds switched up quarterbacks most of the game with Jake Kolbe getting the first snap and Tre Roberson coming in and out.  Jay Blunk, a graduate of ISU and a member of the Chicago Blackhawks stopped by with a big shiny cup often referred to as a Stanley Cup which brought a round of applause from the fans.  Redbirds took the game to go to a record of 3-1 and 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Be sure to check out the Normalite Newspapers and Best Look Magazine for more photo coverage from the Best Look in Sports Action Photography in Bloomington - Normal.




20151003 Northern Iowa at Illinois State football photo gallery - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper

IWU - very active on April 11th

Spring was certainly in the air.  A special event had the Shirk Center parking lot full.  Women's soccer was holding in intrasquad practice game.  The baseball team, softball team both held double headers and the men's lacrosse team was beating up on an opponent!



2015 Illinois Wesleyan Titan Baseball photos - Images by Alan Look



2015 Illinois Wesleyan Titan Women's Softball photos - Images by Alan Look



2015 Illinois Wesleyan Titan Men's Lacrosse photos - Images by Alan Look

 - chimper -

ISU regains momentum and comes back for win

The Illinois State Redbirds Men's Basketball team lead the University of Tennessee Martin Skyhawks most of the first half.  Seemed like everytime I looked up at the scoreboard it was 22-13.  The Skyhawks got to work and took the lead in the early part of the 2nd half.  Near the 11 minute left mark, the Redbirds began to stage a comeback and at the buzzer were back in the lead shooting down the Skyhawks 65-54.  Justin McCloud broke his game high record with 11 points, Reggie Lynch dropped in with 12.



20141217 UT Martin at Illinois State - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper

ISU Men's basketball drops to Utah State by 5

One could point to any number of different things that could have changed the outcome of this 60-55 game favoring the visiting Utah State Aggies.  Illinois State Redbirds hosted them for the first home non-conference game of the season on Sunday November 16th.

See the Normalite Newspaper and Best Look Magazine for more coverage and images provided by the Best Look in Sports Photography in Bloomington - Normal, Alan Look Photography



20141116 Utah State at Illinois State Men's Basketball photos - Images by Alan Look
-chimper

IWU Football falls on Homecoming

A tight ground attack from both teams highlighted the Homecoming football game at Illinois Wesleyan University as the Titans hosted the Vikings of Augustana.  The Vikings walked off with a 7-2 victory.  Donovan Laible conducted operations for the first time as a starter for the Titans.

Look for more coverage in the Normalite Newspapers and in Best Look Magazine, both with photos from the Best Look in Bloomington Normal Sports Photography - Alan Look Photography.



20141018 Augustana Vikings at Illinois Wesleyan Titan Football photos - Images by Alan Look
 - chimper

#22 Illinois State Redbirds takes out #9 South Dakota State JackRabbits

04 October 2014 - A couple early turn overs by the Jacks, a tough Redbird defense and an explosive Redbirds offense behind Tre Roberson, Marshaun Coprich, and Lechein Neblett led the Redbirds to a victory over The JackRabbits with a score of 45-10.  Coprich had a career day of 174 yards, Roberson added151 rushing yards while passing for 168.  Lechein Neblett scored 4 times while Tevin Allen returned a kick 95 yards for a touchdown.



20141003 South Dakota State JackRabbits at Illinois State Redbirds Football photos - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper -

Illinois State squeezes past Southern Illinois in 15 innings on Saturday April 26

It was a fairly windy Saturday, but lots of beautiful people showed up at Duffy Bass Field to watch the middle game of the series between the Salukis of Southern Illinois and the local Redbirds of Illinois State.  The Redbirds didn't let them down, defeating the foes 2-1 in a 15 inning marathon.  It was the second straight extra inning game as Friday evenings contest went 12.  Fridays game ended with a walk off homer, Saturdays with a sac fly driving scoring a baserunner.

Southern, over all is a game under .500 but their 3-11 record in the Valley shows the struggles they are having this season.  The Redbirds are 28-12 and 8-5 in the Valley after the win on Saturday.  At Duffy Bass Field, the Redbirds are 10-2.
The highlight in the first 8 innings was a home run hit by Paul DeJong over the right field boards.



20140426 Southern Illinois at Illinois State baseball photos - Images by Alan Look

IWU Titans and Dickinson Red Devils move to final 8

NCAA Men's D3 Championship slimmed down to 8 teams after action on Friday evening.  At Illinois Wesleyan, the Dickinson Red Devils trumped the Wheaton Thunder and shortly after the host Titans of Illinois Wesleyan thumped the Knights of Calvin.  The Titans and Red Devils meet on Saturday night at Shirk Center in Bloomington.



20140314 Wheaton v Dickinson NCAA D3 Sweet 16 game @ IWU - Images by Alan Look


20140314 Calvin v Illinois Wesleyan NCAA D3 Sweet 16 game at IWU - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper -

ISU defeats ISU?

The Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team took an ax to the Indiana State Sycamores in their last regular season home game 77-59 on Wednesday February 26th in Redbird Arena.  Nick Zeisloft started the games scoring with a 3 pointer for the Redbirds.  The Redbirds never trailed, leading by 20 points at one time in the first half and by 19 several others.  Daishon Knight led the points total for the Redbirds with 20.  Reggie Lynch and Zach Lofton each added 16.  Dawon Cummings scored 12 for the Sycamores.



20140226 Indiana State at Illinois State men's basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper

Millikin Big Blue defeated by Illinois Wesleyan - Women's D3 basketball

Shelby Jackson of IWU led the court with 23 points in a Titan victory over the Millikin Big Blue on Wednesday January 15th, 2014 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington. It was th3 fourth straight CCIW win for the Titans, improving their record to 4-0 in the conference and 10-5 overall tying them with Carthage for the lead in the CCIW.

Millikin fell to 0-4 in the conference and 6-9 overall



20140115 Millikin at Illinois Wesleyan Women's basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

In their 1st conference game this season, the Illinois State Redbird women secured their 2nd win of the year giving them a 2-9 overall and 1-0 Missouri Valley Conference record.  The first half was highlighted by several 3 point nothing but net shots by Alexis Foley.  Foley led the Redbirds with 20 points in 33 minutes of play, followed by Octavia Crump with 17 points.  Drake's Kyndal Clark was the best in the game with 23 points in 34 minute of court time.  Final score was 80-71


20140103 Drake at Illinois State Women's Basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

Barry Hinson tirade after Murray State basketball game

I get it, but maybe not..., my tongue is in my cheek, but maybe not...

If you are a NCAA basketball follower, you have undoubtedly seen the clip of Barry Hinson throwing was is being called a tirade after his Southern Illinois Salukis lost big to the Murray State Racers.  If you haven't seen the clip, snap over to Bing and google it.  I'm sure you will be able to find a couple hundred pagefuls of references.

Not so fast.  I watched the clip and other than a bunch of sound bites that would be fun to edit into something even more meaningful, I didn't think it held a candle.  Considering some of my more favorite tiraders - Bobby Cox, Don Zimmer, and that guy from Indiana - o yeah, Bobby Knight, Barry was really pretty relaxed and witful (yeah, I know it isn't a real word) enough to come up with some pretty well thought out colorful PG rated language.  Besides, who ever mentions their wife once, let alone 2 or three times in a tirade about a men's basketball team?

I think I even understood most of his comments - wonder where that leave me.  Seriously, those boys are getting a free education for their work.  If they get "paid" for the work they do on the court, maybe they are getting over paid - but what do I know, I didn't see the game.

Maybe it's Barry's history - which I willingly admit I don't know much about.  I've only seen him coach one game and he got walked off the floor by security...

I don't normally stick around for the boring postgame interviews, but maybe I'll head for the press room next time Barry is in the house.  then again, maybe not.

Like that shot of Barry?  Alan Look Photography has more in a Barry Hinson gallery.

 - Chimper

Redbird Basketball begins

Well, for me anyway - Saturday was the 1st game. Yes, I know they played one already at Redbird. I was unable to attend. Seems like a lot of ticket holders didn't show up for the game against North Florida either. You missed out. I know, it's not conference season yet, but watching this team was truly special.

Defense seems to have been stepped up with the addition of some of the youth and transfers on this years squad. Watching Osiris, Dinma and Phillips are still fun. Dinma is still a hole filler underneath and Phillips is more confident out front. Osiris has stepped back up hit offensive attack (I thought it was a bit muted last season). The new guys make this a real treat. Johnson, Lewis, and especially Carmichael are filing in nicely. If you come to see nothing else, come to watch Carmichael. He's a blocker and he does it with quite a style.


20091121 North Florida v Illinois State - Images by Alan Look