The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team outscored McKendree 50-26 in the second half on Thursday night at TRAC. That propelled the team to a 76-53 victory over the Bearcats.
 
UIS trailed by one at half, but opened the second half on a 10-1 run over the first four minutes of the period. A 13-3 run by the Prairie Stars later in the half would put the game out of reach.
 
UIS's defense held one of the top scoring teams in the GLVC to 26 points below its season average. McKendree was also the No. 1 in the conference in three-pointers made, but the Prairie Stars held them to five below their season average. The Bearcats finished the game shooting under 40 percent from the field, and just 31.8 percent from three-point range.
 
Offensively, UIS shot 56.6 percent, including 73.1 percent in the second half. UIS also won the rebounding battle by a 37-21 margin, and had a 40-22 lead in points in the paint.
 
Keymonta Johnson had a double-double to lead UIS. He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and also blocked three shots. Jack Weber almost added a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Chase Robinson had 16 points, six assists, and five steals, and Trey Marble had double-figure points with 13. Casey Tuttle collected two three-pointers late in the game for the Prairie Stars.
 
UIS is now 6-5 on the year. The Prairie Stars are home again on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. game against Southern Indiana.