ISU Eclipses 100,000 in Attendance for Men's Hoops
Feb. 28, 2008 NORMAL, Ill. - There were 6,563 fans in attendance to watch Illinois State secure its 15th home win of the season Wednesday, a 68-54 decision that clinched at least a tie for second-place in the final Missouri Valley Conference standings heading into the league's final regular season weekend. The sixth-largest crowd of the season pushed ISU's total home attendance to 102,094, eclipsing 100,000 at Redbird Arena for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. With just one more home game than the 2006-07 campaign, ISU drew nearly 26,000 more fans (25,714) than last season. ISU's 6,381 fans per home game was also the highest single-season average since the 2004-05 campaign, when 6,451 fans filled Redbird Arena in its 15 home contests. Redbird Arena has not reached 100,000 fans in back-to-back season since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns. ISU sold-out (capacity 10,200) the Bradley game (Feb. 9) for the second time in the past four years, and 9,437 people were in attendance to watch Illinois State defeat in-state rival Southern Illinois, 56-47 on Jan. 5. The Drake (8,185) and Indiana State (8,016) crowds both also eclipsed 8,000. In regular season play, Illinois State went 15-1 on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds' home loss came against nationally-ranked Drake, who edged ISU, 73-70, Feb. 5. The Redbirds posted an average margin of victory of nearly 14 points (13.6), while averaging 69.8 points per game. At home, ISU shot 48.7 percent from the field, and held its opponents to 38.6 percent shooting. |
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