ST. LOUIS — Illinois State's season was on full display in Thursday night's Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament play-in round game at Enterprise Center.
ISU squandered an 11-point second-half lead against Evansville. Then Milik Yarbrough came alive in the final seven minutes, scoring 10 of his game-high 18 points as the seventh-seeded Redbirds slipped past the No. 10 Purple Aces, 65-60.
ISU improved to 17-15 and faces second-seeded Drake (23-8) in a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. Friday. The Redbirds downed the co-league champion Bulldogs twice during the regular season, 69-55 on Jan. 30 in Des Moines and 67-60 on Feb.