DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Illinois State Redbirds got 20 points from Chase Walker and a career-high-tying 17 points from Ty Pence, as ISU led for over 37 minutes in the team's 78-70 win over Presbyterian on the opening day of the Purple College Basketball Invitational, held at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.

With the win the Redbirds reached 20 victories on the season, the first time that the program has reached the 20-win mark since the 2016-17 season.

Walker scored his 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting with a game-high nine rebounds. Pence was 6-of-8 from the field for his 17 points while also grabbing six rebounds, as the Redbirds out-rebounded the Blue Hose 30-to-24. Two others – Dalton Banks and Johnny Kinziger – each scored 10 points with Jordan Davis finishing two points away from double-figures with eight.

Banks gave out five assists, as the Birds had an even 14-to-14 assist-to-turnover ratio in the game, despite being 16 days removed from the last game. Kinziger tied his career-high with three steals, as the Birds made 60 percent (30-of-50) of its shots from the field in the win.

The Redbirds will next be in action on Tuesday evening, when ISU will face off against either Jacksonville or UIW in the semifinal round of the postseason tournament. UIW and Jacksonville meet on Monday afternoon at 11 am (CT), while the winner of that game and Illinois State will meet at 6 pm (CT) on ESPNU.

Despite the over two-week lay-off, the Redbird defense came out strong, holding Presbyterian scoreless through the first 5:11 of the game, while racking up an 8-0 lead during that span. Presbyterian fought back, eventually twice taking a one-point lead – the last time with 9:19 to play in the opening half – before the Redbirds took the lead back for good on a pair of baskets from Walker and Pence with 8:47 and 8:00 on the clock. Presbyterian kept chipping away at its deficit, tying the score with 38 seconds left before Caden Boser converted a three-point play with five seconds left to send ISU into the locker room with a three-point, 33-30 lead.

The Redbirds scored the first four points of the second half, and then got three-pointers from Davis, Boser, and Davis to stretch the lead to a dozen a little over four minutes into the second half. ISU's lead grew to as big as 15 with 12:21 to play; and the advantage was too much for the Blue Hose to overcome, despite a late comeback attempt.

ISU also made 85.7 percent of its free throw tries (12-of-14), while converting on 6-of-19 from long range – including a blistering 5-of-8 in the second half.

Presbyterian was led by Kory Mincy who scored 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field while Kobe Stewart had 15 points with eight rebounds.

TEAM NOTES

• Illinois State used a starting lineup of 0 Jack Daugherty, 3 Dalton Banks, 5 Jordan Davis, 11 Johnny Kinziger, and 35 Chase Walker
  • This is the fifth time this season that ISU has used this starting lineup combination
• The Blue Hose won the opening tip
• The first points of the game came from Dalton Banks on a jumper with 19:11 to play in the first half
  • It was the sixth time he scored ISU's first points of the game this season
• The first subs for Illinois State were Caden Boser and Ty Pence with 15:34 to play in the first half
• Illinois State led 33-30 at the half
• The Redbirds held Presbyterian without a field goal for the first 5:11 of the game
• ISU made 60 percent of its field goal tries for the fourth time this season

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Jack Daugherty
  • Made his 59th three-point field goal this season, and he moves into sole possession of second place in the freshman single-season record book
• Dalton Banks
  • Scored in double-figures for the seventh consecutive game, and the 19th time this season
  • Gave out 5+ assists in a game for the third consecutive game and the 10th time in 2024-25
  • With his lone steal, he is now tied for the third-most steals in a season in program history, tied with Todd Starks (1986-87) with only the Paris Lee seasons of 2014-15 (82) and 2016-17 (65) ahead of him
• Johnny Kinziger
  • Tied his career-high with three steals
  • Scored 10 points for his 28th game this season with double-figure scoring, and 41st time in his career
  • Has made a three-point field goal in 32 of 33 games played
• Ty Pence
  • Tied his career-high with 17 points scored, making 6-of-8 shots from the field
  • Reached double-figure scoring for the 10th time this season
  • Pulled down six rebounds, his 10th game this season with 6+ boards
• Chase Walker
  • Scored 20+ points in a game for the 10th time this season, and scored in double-figures for the 24th time this year
  • Missed a double-double by just one rebound, as he also had two assists