NORMAL - During pregame warm-ups, Lloyd Phillips led Illinois State out of the tunnel and promptly went to the wrong end of the court. His teammates stayed at the other end, laughing when Phillips rejoined them. | Photo gallery | Kindred: Sampay makes a splash in early return to court

Obviously, all the new Redbirds have a lot to learn. What didn't take anyone long to figure out is Osiris Eldridge and Champ Oguchi could make quite a tandem together.

Eldridge did most of his damage in the first half of Tuesday's exhibition game against Illinois-Springfield at Redbird Arena in helping ISU streak to a 17-0 lead. Then Oguchi, an Oregon transfer, settled down and sank four 3-pointers after the intermission as the Redbirds pulled away for an 81-57 victory over the Prairie Stars before a crowd of 4,313.

"We came out and played how we wanted to defensively and offensively, but we kind of let up a little bit in the first half and let them get some shots off," said Eldridge, who scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. "But overall, for a first game with all the new people we have, we played a good game."

Oguchi added 18 points, while Dinma Odiakosa put together a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Redbirds went through their only public dress rehearsal before Saturday's opener at Wright State.

The most pleasing sight of the night for ISU was watching Brandon Sampay showing no ill effects from August hip surgery. The senior forward played 18 minutes and scored 12 points with three rebounds and two assists.

Ten of the 12 ISU players who dressed scored as Coach Tim Jankovich tried several combinations. Eldridge and Emmanuel Holloway saw the most action with 29 and 28 minutes, respectively.

UIS, an NAIA school which played the night before against St. Ambrose, missed its first 11 shots and committed seven turnovers before Jeremy Winters broke the drought with a 17-foot jumper with 9:32 left until intermission.

"The highlight of the game for me was the first 11 minutes. You look up and there's zero, and that's an absolute highlight," said Jankovich, whose team had a scrimmage three days earlier at Loyola. "That's what I'm concerned about the most - are we making it tough for people to get a good shot? If we are, you have a chance to have a very good year."

UIS outscored the Redbirds 23-18 the last portion of the first half to get within 35-23 at halftime. When Eldridge, who played a lot at point guard, fed Oguchi for a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half, it started a 21-7 run that helped ISU expand the lead to 60-35.

"It's been a long time since I got out there and made a couple shots or a shot in competition," said Oguchi, a fifth-year senior playing his first game in almost 20 months. "The first half, I had the freshman jitters. Once those wore off I felt pretty comfortable out there again."

Phillips, a junior college point guard expected to contend for a starting position, didn't play in the first half. However, Jankovich said it was not a punishment, instead wanting to go with "the older guys who have been here the longest." Phillips played 16 minutes in the second half.

"Obviously, Lloyd is a guy who can really help us. He's going to give us a lot of minutes," said Jankovich. "I thought he did very well."

UIS played without its leading scorer, forward Nick Livas, because of a sprained ankle. Guard Kelvin Johnson paced the Stars with 11 points. UIS shot 35.7 percent from the field and committed 23 turnovers.

"The way we play we try to pressure and put a lot of pressure on the ball and a lot of run and jump stuff," said UIS coach Kevin Gamble, a 10-year NBA veteran. "Playing against bigger guards, you could tell by the size factor it was hard to get into our offense."

ISU shot 46.2 percent in the second half while committing only five turnovers. Jankovich liked that the Stars' smaller and quick guards pressured the Redbirds the entire game, something the Redbirds had not worked on much in practice.

"I thought we had a much more aggressive mindset (after halftime). We've got to have that," said the second-year ISU coach. "That's what these games are for, to get in front of people and get comfortable again. That was really good for us."

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REDBIRD REPORT CARD

FRONT COURT: B

Dinma Odiakosa recorded a surprising double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). Brandon Sampay's 18 minutes and 12 points was the best stat of the night for ISU.

BACK COURT: B -

Osiris Eldridge already looks in midseason form with 19 points and eight boards. Champ Oguchi caught fire after halftime with four treys, while Emmanuel Holloway was his usual steady self.

BENCH: C +

Sampay looks ready for season to start. Lloyd Phillips, who didn't play until second half, and freshmen showed typical first-game jitters.

OVERALL: B -

The Redbirds took it to the smaller Prairie Stars at the start of both halves, but suffered a little letdown in last nine minutes of first half. ISU will need a 40-minute effort to beat Wright State on Saturday.

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Illinois State 81, Ill.-Springfield 57

AT NORMAL - Redbird Arena

ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD

…Min…FG…FT…Reb…A…PF…Pt

Woodson…18…3-4…0-1…3…0…3…6

Oruche…26…3-7…0-0…8…0…3…9

Motteler…23…1-7…2-3…1…2…1…5

Johnson…34…4-11…1-2…2…6…3…11

Winters…26…3-6…1-2…4…2…3…7

Reynolds…9…1-2…1-2…4…0…2…3

Thornton…14…3-9…1-2…3…0…2…9

Nestlehut…3…0-0…0-0…0…0…1…0

McDonald…3…1-1…0-0…0…0…1…3

Lewis…14…0-2…0-0…2…1…1…0

Selvie…8…0-4…0-0…1…0…1…0

Litwiller…22…1-3…2-2…3…0…1…4

Team…………1

Totals…200…20-56…8-14…32… 11 22… 81

ILLINOIS STATE

…Min…FG…FT…Reb…A…PF…Pt

Oguchi…25…5-10…4-4…3…3…2…18

Odiakosa…23…5-8…1-3…10…1…1…11

Eldridge…29…7-13…2-4…8…2…1…19

Holloway…28…4-9…0-0…6…2…3…9

Odzic…22…0-1…0-0…1…2…1…0

Sampay…18…5-6…2-4…3…2…2…12

Thornton…11…2-5…0-0…3…0…1…4

Robinson…8…0-3…2-2…4…1…1…2

Holtz…7…0-2…0-0…1…1…1…0

Shipley…11…1-4…0-0…1…2…2…3

Modupe…2…0-0…1-2…1…0…0…1

Phillips…16…1-4…0-0…2…2…0…2

Team…………3

Totals…200…30-65…12-19…46…18… 15 81

Ill.-Springfield…23……34 - 57

Illinois State…35……46 - 81

Three-point field goals: Illinois-Springfield 9-26 (Oruche 3-5, Johnson 2-3, Thornton 2-8, McDonald 1-1, Motteler 1-5, Lewis 0-2, Selvie 0-2); Illinois State 9-25 (Oguchi 4-7, Eldridge 3-6, Shipley 1-4, Holloway 1-5, Holtz 0-1, Phillips 0-2).

Turnovers: Illinois-Springfield 23, Illinois State 16. Blocked shots: Illinois-Springfield 2 (Johnson, Winters); Illinois State 3 (Oguchi 2, Odiakosa); Steals: Illinois-Springfield 9 (Johnson 2); Illinois State 11 (Holloway 3, Odiakosa 2, Eldridge 2, Odzic, Oguchi, Phillips, Sampay).

Officials: Pollard, Olson, O'Neill Jr.

Attendance: 4,313.