Boo Richardson crossed midcourt and flung the ball skyward, seemingly toward the second tier of seats. Osiris Eldridge soared in from the right side of the basket and got his hands on the high-arching pass.

Unable to catch it cleanly, Eldridge's makeshift shot bounced off the rim, and teammate Brandon Sampay put in the rebound at the halftime buzzer.

It was nearly a spectacular alley-oop dunk worthy of ESPN's nightly "Top 10." Pull it off, and Eldridge and Richardson would have brought half of Redbird Arena to its feet.

Why half?

That's all there was Wednesday night to watch Illinois State's best basketball team in a decade. The crowd of 5,446 was barely over 50 percent capacity in a 10,200-seat arena, a pathetic turnout from a community which dares to call itself a sports town.

A 69-57 win over Missouri State boosted the Redbirds to 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference, good for second place with four league games to play.

ISU has won 20 games only once since earning back-to-back Valley titles in 1997 and 1998 - a 21-9 mark in 2001. This year's team appears certain to surpass that, and has a shot at the first NCAA Tournament bid in 10 years.

Yet, four days after treating a packed house to a 72-68 victory over rival Bradley, the Redbirds took a right to the jaw from their fickle fan base.

The only other game in town was Illinois Wesleyan's 95-52 rout of Millikin, and the surging Titans were sucker punched at the gate as well. They drew 1,300 at Shirk Center, another half-full and half-hearted response.

We are left to assume this past weekend was an aberration. While ISU and Bradley were filling Redbird Arena, IWU drew 2,200 Saturday night for a win over Elmhurst. The next day, the ISU women played before their largest home crowd of the season (3,738).

Wednesday, it was back to normal, as in Bloomington-Normal.

Even Illinois State's students, who have shown increased support this season, mostly stayed away. There was more buzz at Milner Library, and likely more students.

Nothing wrong with students in a library, but at a school of 20,000-plus, you would expect to fill a couple of sections at Redbird Arena every game for an exciting, up-tempo and, finally, winning team.

That said, the biggest problem lies outside the campus. The public has moaned for years about a sub-par product, and with good reason. ISU entered this season with a 123-146 record since 1998.

That argument doesn't wash this year. The product is entertaining and inexpensive, yet largely ignored.

Wednesday night was part of a three-game package ISU offered for $15 for an upper bowl seat. That's $5 per game to watch quality Division I basketball.

It makes it difficult to cite cost as a prohibitive factor. So other excuses are dredged up … parking, or having to work the next day. The reality is, shuttle service is provided, and games end by 9 p.m. or shortly thereafter.

ISU fans delight in being anti-Bradley, and that's fine. It's part of what makes a rivalry.

Yet, like it or not, they could learn from the Braves' fans.

Bradley has averaged 9,942 for 13 home games at 11,060-seat Carver Arena. That is 90 percent capacity, in an off-campus facility, for a team with a 14-12 record.

Forty miles to the east, ISU has averaged 6,388 for 14 home games - 63 percent capacity for an 18-7 team with passion, energy and a rising star in Eldridge. Modest as that is, it is the Redbirds' best since 2001.

There is a "what more do you want?" element in all of this, and there seems to be no easy answer.

Perhaps Bloomington-Normal has become too transient for people to develop strong ties to ISU.

They move in and out through jobs with State Farm Insurance and/or Country Insurance & Financial Services, their stays too brief to embrace local teams.

Illinois State's "Spread the Red!" campaign, while commendable, has a ways to go in filling the red seats at Redbird Arena. The basketball team has made great strides, but the fan base has yet to catch up.

Wednesday, it was only halfway there.

Pathetic.

Randy Kindred is a Pantagraph columnist. To leave him a voice mail, call 820-3402. By e-mail: rkindred@pantagraph.com. The Randy Kindred Blog is at www.pantagraph.com/blogs