NORMAL — The gift that kept on giving in the first half Friday at CEFCU Arena was not Southern Illinois standout Gift Uchenna.
It was Illinois State’s Addison Martin.
Martin connected on 8 of 9 shots while scoring 20 first-half points to propel the Redbirds to a 17-point halftime lead that culminated in a 78-60 Missouri Valley Conference win over SIU before a crowd of 1,589.
ISU won its fourth straight game and closed out January at 7-1
Here are six takeaways from the game that improved ISU’s records to 13-7 overall and 7-2 in the MVC.