Making history should never be easy, and it wasn’t for a while Monday night for Illinois State.
Illinois State shook off nemesis Southwest Missouri State in the final 6 minutes to defeat the Bears for the first time in three tries this season. In the process the Redbirds became the first team in Missouri Valley Conference history to win both the regular-season title and postseason tournament in consecutive seasons.
With its 84-74 victory, ISU also earned its second straight automatic NCAA bid and the distinction of being only the second team to repeat as MVC tournament champion. Southern Illinois won three straight from 1993-95.
“I think that’s something special,” coach Kevin Stallings said. “The thing that makes it special is that our seniors have accomplished a lot of things, but this is something they can say that no one else has accomplished.”
Illinois State’s goal in this tournament was not to leave anything to chance, or the NCAA selection committee.
And as far as the Redbirds were concerned, the issue was settled before this game ever started. Stallings said senior forward and tournament MVP Dan Muller told him Sunday night, “Don’t worry, coach, we’ve got this thing.”
What Muller, whose 17 points were second only to center LeRoy Watkins’ game-high 18, didn’t know was that his confidence would not be the only boost Stallings received. Senior guard Skipp Schaefbauer, who broke his leg in Saturday’s quarterfinals, surprised teammates by welcoming them in the locker room after warmups and leading them back on the court, in his wheelchair, to start the game.
“Skipp was the heart of this team and was on our minds the entire weekend,” Muller said. “When he went down, we all felt it. I walked into the locker room before the game and saw him sitting there, and it was really emotional. We knew we could count on Skipp whenever, and now it was time to pull for him.”
Illinois State (24-5), which shot 66 and 59 percent in its two previous tournament victories, “slumped” to 55 percent Monday, finishing with a tournament-record 57.5 percent. But ISU could not shake Southwest Missouri (16-16), which never fell more than six points behind until the final 8 minutes.
The Bears simply did not have the manpower. Guard William Fontleroy was taken to a hospital with a severe eye injury in the first half, and center Danny Moore was hobbled with a sprained left ankle. Moore, who scored 21 and 26 points in the Bears’ two defeats of Illinois State this season but only four Monday, was hampered both by the the sprain and ISU’s collapsing zone. When he picked up his fourth foul as the second half wound down, Southwest Missouri was done.
“I had the four fouls so I couldn’t foul, their post guys were getting good position and I couldn’t do anything about it,” Moore said.
Watkins and backup center Rob Gibbons (13 points) pounded at the foul-troubled Moore.
“We said LeRoy was the only guy who could shoot the ball unless it was a layup,” Stallings said. “Leroy thought it was Christmastime.”
Illinois State finished with five players in double figures and won its sixth straight game despite yielding 19 offensive rebounds, being outrebounded 40-31 and getting only nine points from MVC player of the year Rico Hill.
“If you’d told me we’d hold Rico to nine points and outrebound them by nine, I’d have thought we’d be doing all right,” Bears coach Steve Alford said.
