NORMALL, Ill. – Ohio made a run early in the second half to take the lead, but Illinois State dominated down the stretch to take an 85-75 victory Tuesday night at CEFCU Arena.

After trailing by double digits early in the first half and then by a 36-27 margin with 4:18 to go, the Bobcats cut their deficit to three points by halftime and then pushed to a 54-48 advantage with 13:13 left in the game.

From there, the Redbirds (2-1) took over, finishing the game at 61.2% from the field, including 52.6 from 3-point range. They also were 15 of 16 on free throws, all of them in the second half.

Dalton Banks paced Illinois State with 23 points and five rebounds, while Caden Boser had 16 points on perfect 6-of-6 shooting, including 4 of 4 from long range.

AJ Brown had 20 points to lead the Bobcats (1-2), with Elmore James and AJ Clayton each scoring 12 points. Aidan Hadaway finished with 11 points. Shareef Mitchell sat out with a reportedly minor injury.

A long pullup Ajay Sheldon 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer made it a 40-37 game. Then in the second half, with Illinois State ahead 44-39, Brown and Hadaway hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bobcats their first lead of the night. The run continued with another Brown trey and then an James pullup jumper making it 50-44.

Vic Searls had a pair of baskets that answered buckets by the Redbirds before a 7-0 run put them back on top. After a Jackson Paveletzke four-point play – his only points of the night – Illinois State scored nine in a row and went up 64-58 on a Banks layup with 8:43 left.

Boser hit back-to-back 3-pointers that made it a 77-64 game with 3:36 left, and after Clayton answered with one of his own, Johnny Kinzinger and Jordan Davis made two more for their team to put the score at 83-67 with only 2:28 left.

Ohio got off to a slow start, trailing 17-7 in the opening six minutes of the game. The Bobcats cut it to 19-18 at the midway point in the half, but the Redbirds eventually neared a double-digit lead and then settled on a three-point halftime edge.

At 47.3%, the Bobcats shot the ball reasonably well, including 40% from 3-point range.

Chase Walker had 13 points, while Ty Pence and Johnny Kinziger added 10 each, with Kinzinger also passing out seven assists.

The Bobcats take on Memphis at 8 p.m. Friday at FedEx Forum.