The Sports Xchange
Dec 16, 2017
Keyshawn Evans scored 25 points with seven assists Saturday afternoon to lead Illinois State to a 101-97 overtime victory against Mississippi at Oxford.
The Redbirds (5-6) added the Rebels (5-5) to their list of Southeastern Conference victims after knocking off South Carolina back in November.
Milik Yarbrough flirted with a triple-double, scoring 25 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists before fouling out in regulation for Illinois State.
From there, Evans took over for Illinois State down the stretch.
Evans' jumper at the beginning of overtime gave the Redbirds the lead for good as Illinois State outscored the Rebels 14-10 in the extra frame.
Bruce Stevens scored 27 points for Ole Miss. Deandre Burnett finished with 19 points and seven assists while Terence Davis added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Rebels.
Sophomore guard Madison Williams knocked down a pair of early 3-pointers as Illinois State stayed even with the Rebels until Keyshawn Evans' 3-pointer put the Redbirds up 10-9. Illinois State went on a 12-1 run and led 22-10 with 12:36 to go in the half.
By the time Evans got going for the Redbirds midway through the opening period, Illinois State was well in control, building an 18-point lead at 35-17 on another Keyshawn Evans 3-pointer.
But the Rebels, with some hard work on the offensive glass, cut the lead back down to six points at 39-33 before heading to the locker room at halftime trailing 43-33.
Ole Miss managed to get within single digits multiple times before a 10-2 run midway through the second half got the Rebels within two, 66-64 with less than nine minutes to go.
A pair of free throws by Bruce Stevens tied the game 72-72 with six minutes to go. The game was tied again 80-80 at the three-minute mark.
Burnett's free throws with 38 seconds left sent the game into overtime.