NORMAL — Enjoying a nine-point lead with less than two minutes left Wednesday night at Redbird Arena, Milik Yarbrough and his Illinois State teammates immediately thought about 17 days earlier.
Yarbrough made a lot of plays. He scored ISU's final 10 points, hitting all six free throws in the last 26 seconds, and scored 28 points as the Redbirds held off the Bears, 65-57, in a Missouri Valley Conference game before a crowd of 4,468.
Phil Fayne added 18 points as ISU closed out its home schedule while improving to 16-14 overall and 9-8 in the league, tied for fourth place with Bradley, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois.