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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois St. 62, Texas A&M 55
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, March 24, 2014
Where: Redbird Arena, Normal, Illinois
Officials: # Jeffrey Benedict, # Jim Bruno, # Rod Mrakovich
Attendance: 3251

Illinois State 62, Texas A&M 55: Daishon Knight scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and had nine rebounds as the Redbirds knocked off the visiting Aggies in the College Basketball Invitational quarterfinal game.

John Jones matched his season high with 12 points off the bench for Illinois State (18-15), which advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals, when the remaining teams -- Siena, Old Dominion and Fresno State -- will be re-seeded. Reggie Lynch added nine points and six blocked shots and Nick Zeisloft finished with eight points and eight rebounds for the Redbirds.

Antwan Space scored 15 points and Jamal Jones finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Texas A&M (18-16). Kourtney Roberson added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, who lost three of their last four games.

Jones, in his second game back after missing 11 with a broken foot, scored nine straight points for the Redbirds following the midway point of the first half and Knight followed with his first field goal to give Illinois State a 21-16 lead after the Aggies had taken an early five-point advantage. The score was tied at 27 coming out of the half and neither team led by more than three until Knight drilled a 3-pointer for a 44-40 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Knight’s jumper extended the lead to 50-44 with 6:47 on the clock and the Redbirds then benefited from poor free-throw shooting down the stretch from Texas A&M, which shot 4-for-10 from the line in the final 5:12. Lynch, meanwhile, made three straight baskets to keep the Aggies at arm’s distance.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Redbirds defeated teams from the Big Ten (Northwestern), Big East (DePaul) and SEC (Texas A&M) in the same season for the first time in program history. … Illinois State is 6-1 all-time against the SEC, including 4-0 record in the postseason. … Lynch came in with 85 blocks this season, a freshman program record.
Top Game Performances
 
Texas A&M   Illinois St.
Antwan Space 15 Scoring Daishon Knight 17
Alex Caruso 6 Assists Bobby Hunter 5
Jamal Jones 9 Rebounds Daishon Knight 9
Jamal Jones 4 Free Throws Made Daishon Knight 4
Alex Caruso 2 Steals Daishon Knight 1
Tavario Miller 1 Blocks Reggie Lynch 6
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Texas A&M 55 34.0 4-21 15-28 12 35 2 5 10
Illinois St. 62 43.6 4-18 10-15 15 38 7 4 11