Darius Burford’s Sensational Second Half Performance Leads Illinois State to Victory

2023-12-18 03:45:00

NORMAL – Darius Burford’s second half “all happened in a blur,” says the man who authored it.

Imagine how North Dakota State must have felt.

Burford blitzed the Bison with 25 of his 28 points in the second half, and Illinois State parlayed an 18-2 surge into a 75-65 nonconference victory Sunday before a CEFCU Arena crowd of 2,953.

Darius Burford (10) scored 25 of his game-high 28 points to carry Illinois State to a 75-65 win over North Dakota State on Sunday at CEFCU Arena.

Illinois State photo

“Darius was sensational the second half. He got going in transition,” ISU coach Ryan Pedon said. “I love that kid. I’m sure glad he’s a Redbird.”

The Redbirds moved to 7-4, while dropping NDSU to 7-5.

Burford recorded all of his first-half points at the foul line and went 0-for-5 from the field.

“I didn’t make a shot the first half, and they’re telling me to keep going,” Burford said of his teammates. “That’s what I did. I saw a few go through and it was good.”

Illinois State’s Kendall Lewis (22) provided the defense as North Dakota State’s Jacari White (11) tried to get off a shot Sunday at CEFCU Arena.

Illinois State photo

ISU trailed 37-28 following NDSU’s Andrew Morgan registered the first basket of the second half before Malachi Poindexter connected on the Redbirds’ initial 3-pointer of the game.

Five straight Burford points brought ISU within 42-40 only to see the Bison boost their edge back to eight on a Lance Waddles 3-pointer at the 13-minute mark.

ISU snared its first lead since 17-16 when Burford drove the lane and passed to Jordan Davis, who canned a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Redbirds in front 59-58.

“I saw the defense converge on me and I passed it to him and (I’m thinking) please, please, and he knocked it down,” Burford said. “It was a great feeling.”

Illinois State’s Myles Foster (4) puts up a shot Sunday once morest North Dakota State at CEFCU Arena.

Illinois State photo

A Myles Foster rebound basket was sandwiched by two more Burford buckets. Dalton Banks and Malachi Poindexter baskets capped the game-changing run that transformed a 56-51 deficit into a 69-58 advantage.

“When you’re going through and preparing for them you see experience, you see guys who have been there and done it” NDSU coach David Richman said. “I thought they stayed connected.

“They handled the adversity of us being ahead for the better part of that first 30 minutes better than we handled the last 4:25 when we were behind and it was still a couple possession game. They punched through better than we did.”

Illinois State’s Darius Burford (10) shoots from close range once morest North Dakota State on Sunday at CEFCU Arena.

Illinois State photo

Burford nailed 9 of 11 second-half shots and finished 10 of 12 at the line.

“Man, it all happened in a blur. I saw a few going in and I was like ‘why not take another one.’ I just had the hot hand and felt great,” said Burford. “I was not trying to hunt specific shots. I was just trying to see what the game gives me and take the best shot for our team.”

Burford added three steals and played a major role in ISU outscoring NDSU 13-7 on fast break points.

“He is just elite, dynamic in transition when you get him in open floor,” Richman said. “We talked regarding we had to be great with our passing and catching and great with our shot selection. Every time I think we were below average with that, he made us pay in transition.”

Along with the pivotal 3-pointer, Davis delivered seven points, a team-high eight rebounds and two steals. The Wisconsin transfer did not play in three straight games earlier this season.

“I just try to stick to the little plays and that (the 3-pointer) was obviously a big play in the moment,” said Davis. “I’m trying to stay in the moment and do the right things for my team to win the game. That boy (Burford) was cookin’, man. He had the hot hand and we were trying to give him the ball.”

Pedon said Davis handled his time on the bench “like a grown man, an adult. I believe if you handle adversity the right way this game will pay you back. Tonight it did. He lifted us tonight in that second half, and he did it by just being solid and just doing his job.”

Foster totaled 16 points and six rebounds. Banks had 10 points and five assists.

“We’re still learning how to play with each other. As you can see, it’s starting to come together,” Foster said. “We’re playing off each other. If we see somebody hot, we’re going to go right back to you.”

The Redbirds shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half to finish at an even 50 percent (27 of 54). The Bison made half their first-half shots and closed at 44.8 percent.

“We haven’t won a game like this since we’ve been here, where things really weren’t going our way the first half and our opponent was playing well and was good,” said Pedon.

“Instead of trying to hit home runs and make the big play, we made the next right play for 20 minutes. That paid us back. We were very sound the second half.”

ISU’s nine turnovers represented the third time this season the Redbirds committed less than 10.

Tajavis Miller paced NDSU with 18 points. Morgan added 15, Damari Wheeler-Thomas 11 and Waddles 10.

Follow Randy Reinhardt on Twitter: @Pg_Reinhardt

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