NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State has proven to be one of the best kept secrets of the season's early going.

Creighton was the overwhelming choice to win the Missouri Valley while Wichita State, well, is Wichita State and gained plenty of publicity with its strong start.

However, it was Illinois State the team predicted to finish second to Creighton in preseason polls, but few knew how the coaching from Tim Jankovich to Dan Muller would affect the Redbirds. But the former Redbird star who had been a top coaching lieutenant at Vanderbilt to Kevin Stallings since 2001 has his alma mater playing consistently strong basketball.

The Redbirds stand at 8-3, coming off an impressive Wednesday night win at Dayton. Two of their three losses have come to Big 10 foe Northwestern and Louisville, both three-point decisions. That's the Illinois State team APSU will be facing 2:05 p.m., Saturday, in Redbird Arena.

Jackie Carmichael, the 6-9, 240-pound forward, leads Illinois, averaging 18.3 ppg and 7.7 rpg. He is coming off a double-double against Dayton, a performance that saw him net 25 points. In addition, guard Tyler Brown is averaging 17.4 ppg for the high-powered offense averaging 80.8 ppg.  

Austin Peay, meanwhile, will try to put behind one of the most difficult defeats in recent memory-certainly at home. Leading by 12 points with 3:09 remaining, APSU failed to score the game's remainder as Lipscomb rallied for a 87-84 victory as the Bisons scored the game's final 15 points.

Lost in the game was a career-high 25-point performance by Govs' forward Anthony Campbell while forward Chris Freeman came off the bench to add 15 points.

In addition four other Govs scored in double figures. They will need that type of balanced offense against Illinois State.

This will be the first of five straight Govs' games away from Dave Aaron Arena.

-AP-