Illinois
Indiana State Sycamores vs. Illinois State Redbirds: How to watch NCAA Basketball online, TV channel, live stream info, start time
Halftime Report
Fortunes may be turning around for Illinois State after losing three in a row. They have jumped out to a quick 35-29 lead against Indiana State.
Illinois State came into the matchup with some extra motivation after the defeat they were dealt the last time these two teams faced off. We’ll see if they’re able to flip the script or if it’ll just be more of the same.
Who’s Playing
Illinois State Redbirds @ Indiana State Sycamores
Current Records: Illinois State 11-14, Indiana State 22-3
How To Watch
What to Know
If the oddsmakers’ predictions hold true, the near future looks bright for Indiana State. They and the Illinois State Redbirds will face off in a Missouri Valley battle at 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Hulman Center. Illinois State is crawling into this game hobbled by three consecutive losses, while Indiana State will bounce in with nine consecutive wins.
Indiana State proved they can win big on Wednesday (they won by 40) but on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 73-71 win over the Bears. Winning is a bit easier when you drain eight more threes than your opponent, as Indiana State did.
Indiana State’s victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ryan Conwell, who went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points and 2 assists. Julian Larry was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with seven assists and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Illinois State suffered their closest loss since November 21, 2023 on Saturday. They fell just short of the Salukis by a score of 69-66. The close contest was extra heartbreaking for Illinois State, who almost overcame a 19 point deficit.
The loss doesn’t tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Malachi Poindexter, who scored 16 points. He didn’t help Illinois State’s cause all that much against the Flames on Wednesday but the same can’t be said for this matchup. Another player making a difference was Kendall Lewis, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds.
Illinois State struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That’s the fewest offensive rebounds they’ve managed all season.
The Sycamores have been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won 11 of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 22-3 record this season. As for the Redbirds, they have not been sharp recently as the team’s lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 11-14 record this season.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Indiana State just can’t miss this season, having made 50.8% of their shots per game (they’re ranked second in field goal percentage overall). It’s a different story for Illinois State, though, as they’ve only made 41.7% of their shots this season. Given Indiana State’s sizable advantage in that area, the Redbirds will need to find a way to close that gap.
Indiana State strolled past the Redbirds in their previous matchup back in February of 2023 by a score of 80-64. Does Indiana State have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Redbirds turn the tables on them? We’ll have the answer soon enough.
Odds
Indiana State is a big 18.5-point favorite against Illinois State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Sycamores as a 18-point favorite.
The over/under is set at 143.5 points.
See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Indiana State has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Illinois State.
- Feb 18, 2023 – Indiana State 80 vs. Illinois State 64
- Jan 04, 2023 – Indiana State 76 vs. Illinois State 67
- Mar 03, 2022 – Illinois State 58 vs. Indiana State 53
- Feb 26, 2022 – Illinois State 86 vs. Indiana State 66
- Feb 12, 2022 – Indiana State 60 vs. Illinois State 57
- Jan 17, 2021 – Indiana State 74 vs. Illinois State 68
- Jan 16, 2021 – Indiana State 73 vs. Illinois State 65
- Feb 08, 2020 – Illinois State 74 vs. Indiana State 67
- Jan 11, 2020 – Indiana State 65 vs. Illinois State 52
- Feb 20, 2019 – Indiana State 73 vs. Illinois State 50
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.
But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.
Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.
And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.
The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.
Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.
Man, that’s just downright pathetic.
But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.
The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.
Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.
The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.
Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.
In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.
Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.
Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.
Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.
He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.
Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th).
The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
Illinois
Illinois awards AD Josh Whitman a new contract worth more than $31 million over the next 10 years
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois has extended athletic director Josh Whitman’s contract through 2036, committing more than $31 million over the next 10 years on the heels of a series of standout seasons for the department and its teams.
The university’s board of trustees approved the new deal for Whitman at its regular meeting on Thursday. The fifth-longest tenured AD among the four power conferences will make $2.15 million during the 2026-27 school year, a salary increase of more than 40%.
Whitman is scheduled to receive $100,000 raises annually before a $200,000 bump to $3.15 million in the final year of the agreement and a $500,000 retention bonus each June 30 that he remains on the job at Illinois.
The contract also includes additional incentives of up to $500,000 annually related to performance goals set by the university chancellor and three automatic one-year extensions through 2039 if certain Illini football and men’s basketball performance measures are met.
Whitman, a former Illinois football player, was hired in 2016. This was the fifth time his contract has been amended. The men’s basketball team reached the NCAA Final Four in April for the first time in 21 years. The football team won 19 games over the last two seasons, a program record for that span. Illini athletics also set a revenue record for a fourth consecutive year and topped $200 million for the first time in 2025-26, according to the board of trustees meeting memo.
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