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Tim Jankovich's first regular-season game as ISU coach turned out to be one for the defensive record books. Missouri-St. Louis set several Redbird Arena lows as ISU put on a defensive clinic in bottling up the Division II Tritons, 70-37, before an announced crowd of 4,185.

"Everybody came out and was ready to play defense," said Illinois State guard Dom Johnson. "We came out with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of intensity."

Missouri-St. Louis' 12 baskets and 30 field goal attempts were the fewest in Redbird Arena's 20-year history, while the Tritons' 34 turnovers were the most ever. If not for a rebound basket by Adam Kaatman with 33 seconds left, Missouri-St. Louis would have walked away with the fewest points, too.

For now, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne's 36-point effort in 2005 remains safe.

Jankovich wasn't pleased with ISU's defensive effort in an 82-61 exhibition victory over Quincy Wednesday. The Redbirds heard about it the next three days and evidently bought into what their coach was selling.

"I thought it was a total commitment by our guys to really focus in and guard," said Jankovich, "We had good awareness and intensity. Obviously we fouled too much (23 fouls), but I'm OK with that. At this time of year I thought we did a very good job."

It took Missouri-St. Louis almost 36 minutes to have more points than turnovers. The Tritons had only a safety, uh, two points for the first 11:44 of the first half.

"Our main goal was to pressure these guys out of their offense and make them take hard shots where we did," said Anthony Slack, who paced ISU with 12 points and seven rebounds. "We held them long periods of time without a field goal."

ISU wasn't doing too much offensively, either, the first half except for a couple transition baskets fueled by their defense. The Redbirds shot 40 percent and committed 10 turnovers, allowing Missouri-St. Louis to cut a 16-2 deficit to 23-14 at the intermission.

"The first half was very poor as far as getting the ball inside and using the inside-outside game," said Jankovich. "We didn't execute well offensively the first half, but I was thrilled with the defense. The second half was the same as our first game. We seemed to relax (offensively) and get in a rhythm better."

ISU blew the game open early in the second half. The Redbirds went on a 20-4 run to take a 43-18 lead. Jankovich used 10 players between 14 and 24 minutes as ISU kept the defensive heat on the Tritons the whole way.

Missouri-St. Louis sorely needed Paul Paradoski. The senior point guard, a transfer from Division I Southeast Missouri State, suffered a sprained ankle in practice Saturday and was on crutches. Forward Larricus Brown paced the Tritons with a game-high 16 points.

Luckily for the Tritons, the game only counted as an exhibition for them. They earlier lost to Saint Louis (71-54) and Missouri (78-51).

"Coach Jankovich obviously has a very good defensive team," said Missouri-St. Louis coach Chris Pilz, whose team was 0 of 4 from outside the arc. "We run the same offense as they do, so they're guarding it every day in practice. Missing our point guard hurt early … It was more ISU than us. They're a good defensive club.

"Their post presence on offense is going to be one of the best in the (Missouri) Valley. They can bring two or three guys in there who can score on their high-low game."

The Redbirds also set a Redbird Arena record with 17 steals. Forward Brandon Sampay's six steals were one off the school record.

"In practice we've been focusing on getting in passing lanes more and pressuring as much as possible without getting beat," said Johnson, who added 11 points.

ISU shot 57.6 percent in the second half to finish at 50 percent for the game (29 of 58). The Redbirds open the Chicago Invitational Challenge at home Wednesday with a 7:05 p.m. game against Southeast Missouri State.

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REDBIRD REPORT CARD

FRONT COURT: B-

Anthony Slack stayed out of foul trouble and led way with 12 points and seven rebounds. Dinma Odiakosa looked much more comfortable in his second game after redshirt season.

BACKCOURT: B

Dom Johnson got ISU started offensively in first half on the break and finished with 11 points. Quiet game from Osiris Eldridge (eight points, two boards), but others picked him up.

BENCH: B

Brandon Holtz and Alex Rubin each sank two 3-pointers. Brandon Sampay didn't let 2-of-7 shooting affect his defense as he had six of ISU's 17 steals.

OVERALL: B

ISU should have enjoyed much bigger halftime lead than nine points the way its defense was playing. The Redbirds need a faster offense start Wednesday against Southeast Missouri State.