EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The trap was set less than 48 hours earlier — and Illinois State's basketball team fell right into it.
After routing Evansville by 36 points on Friday night at Redbird Arena, Illinois State head coach Dan Muller warned his team in the locker room that Sunday's rematch would be different.
If the Redbirds heard that message, they evidently didn't fully grasp it.
"As a team we didn't come out ready to play," said ISU's Mark Freeman. "We played down to the level of competition."
Evansville, which was winless in the Missouri Valley Conference, took advantage.