Many wondered why the heck Illinois State would go to Edwardsville to play Southern Illinois Edwardsville, a transitional Division I team. To start the season there seemed to be beneath a team of ISU’s status, many thought.

After watching ISU’s 82-60 victory over the Cougars, it seemed like a good move by the Redbirds.

First, ISU gets home games against SIUE the next two years. A 2-for-1 deal is a good deal with anyone.

Second, the atmosphere in the Vadalabene Center was much better than ISU has experienced the past couple seasons in Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. The cozy place was almost filled to capacity with a crowd of 3,652. You could hear the coaches during timeouts at the near-empty MAC buildings.

Third, it was a perfect team to start against for an inexperienced Redbird squad. SIUE is a couple years away from being a competitive Division I squad. ISU could gain some confidence right away by dominating, and the Redbirds did. Mission accomplished.

SIUE coach Lennox Forrester said he thought his team did a good job on Osiris Eldridge. Then Forrester looked at the stat sheet and saw Eldridge scored a season-high 19 points. Forrester said Eldridge made it look easy, making 7 of 12 shots.

This could be the start of a banner senior season for Eldridge.

“He looked so confident and is playing at a better pace than I’ve ever seen him,” said ISU coach Tim Jankovich. “He was making more plays for others than I’ve seen. I’m really excited about his potential for the year. He only forced one or two shots. That’s fine with me. When you’re being aggressive you force things every now and then.”

Jankovich couldn’t have scripted a better game for the Redbirds. They looked sharp in the first half in bolting to a 21-point lead. SIUE made a brief comeback, getting within 14, before ISU pulled away.

The biggest surprise Sunday was that freshman Zeke Upshaw didn’t play.
ISU evidently is thinking about redshirting Upshaw, along with freshman Jon Ekey and sophomore Jeremy Robinson, so there was no need to put in Upshaw during a blowout.

Upshaw has a huge upside, but probably won’t see many minutes behind Eldridge this season. It is difficult for freshmen to accept not playing a year, but Upshaw would be glad in the 2013-14 season when he is a 22-year-old fifth-year senior and dominating.