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Illinois State Redbirds @ Cornell Big Red

Current Records: Illinois State 7-4, Cornell 7-3

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Illinois State has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They and the Cornell Big Red will compete for holiday cheer at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at Newman Arena. The Redbirds are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 80.1 points per game this season.

If Illinois State beats Cornell with 81 points on Sunday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. Illinois State blew past N. Illinois 81-60 on Wednesday.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Illinois State to victory, but perhaps none more so than Dalton Banks, who went 8 for 10 en route to 17 points plus eight rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance also gave Banks a new career-high in field goal percentage (80%). Another player making a difference was Johnny Kinziger, who had 12 points plus seven rebounds and six assists.

Illinois State was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as N. Illinois only posted ten.

Meanwhile, Cornell waltzed into their game last Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They came out on top against the Golden Bears by a score of 88-80.

AK Okereke was the offensive standout of the match as he went 10 for 18 en route to 24 points plus six rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Nazir Williams, who went 7 for 12 en route to 18 points plus two steals.

Illinois State pushed their record up to 7-4 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. As for Cornell, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.

Sunday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Illinois State has been crazy accurate this season, having made 49.6% of their field goals per game. However, it's not like Cornell struggles in that department as they've drained 49.4% of their field goals this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.