Belmont Bruins @ Illinois State Redbirds
Walker and Illinois State knock off Belmont 81-78
NORMAL, Ill. -- — Chase Walker scored 22 points and Johnny Kinziger secured the victory with a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining as Illinois State knocked off Belmont 81-78 on Wednesday night.
Walker added six rebounds for the Redbirds (13-9, 5-6 Missouri Valley Conference). Kinziger shot 8 for 15, including 5 for 11 from beyond the arc to add 22 points. Landon Wolf had 11 points and shot 5 for 11, including 1 for 6 from beyond the arc.
Jonathan Pierre led the Bruins (15-7, 7-4) in scoring, finishing with 27 points. Sam Orme added 20 points for Belmont. Isaiah Walker also had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Illinois State went into halftime leading Belmont 35-31. Kinziger scored 12 points in the half. Chase Walker scored a team-high 13 points for Illinois State in the second half.
Illinois State plays Valparaiso at home on Saturday, and Belmont hosts Evansville on Sunday.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Game Information
Normal, IL
Referee:Kelly Self
Referee:Edward Crenshaw
Referee:Ervin Wilson
2025-26 Standings
| Missouri Valley ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | 14-3 | - | 24-4 |
| Bradley | 11-5 | 2.5 | 18-9 |
| Murray State | 11-6 | 3 | 19-9 |
| UIC | 10-6 | 3.5 | 15-12 |
| Illinois State | 9-7 | 4.5 | 17-10 |
| Northern Iowa | 9-7 | 4.5 | 17-10 |
| Valparaiso | 8-8 | 5.5 | 14-13 |
| Southern Illinois | 6-10 | 7.5 | 12-15 |
| Drake | 6-11 | 8 | 12-16 |
| Indiana State | 3-13 | 10.5 | 10-17 |
| Evansville | 2-13 | 11 | 6-20 |
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