OT and Justin Bieber at Redbird Arena

On the evening of January 25^th, there was a certain chill in the air which could only mean one thing, a great game was about to take place. As I approached Redbird Arena, I could hear the thunderous chants coming from inside. It almost made me forget that I was at an ISU men’s basketball game and not the Beijing Olympics. The opponent was Missouri State who would not stop at anything short of pulverizing us at our house. And it showed for the first half of the game as Missouri State led 34-25 going into halftime. Let me take this time to debrief another part of the fun atmosphere at Redbird Arena. When my friends and I first took our seats behind one of the baskets, I noticed that giant cutout pictures of celebrities were being passed out to the fans. I instantly thought to myself how funny it would be holding up one of those gargantuan heads, so I started flailing my arms to get attention and ultimately received the prize. I was handed the cutout with the picture facing away from me so I had no idea whose “head” I had. I turned it around in excitement only to be completely disappointed and on the cusp of throwing it like a giant Frisbee onto the court. The face looking back at me was none other than the most disliked pop-star in the eyes of any man in the country, Justin Bieber. Let’s just say I was considering never showing my face on campus again after I was humiliated on the jumbotron while holding Bieber’s picture for the whole arena to see.  Now getting back to the game, I honestly did not feel that the Redbirds had it in them to make a comeback. I was proved wrong as they started the second half with a 7-0 run, narrowing the deficit to only 1 point. Missouri State then had a run of their own to bring the score back to a 9 point lead at 46-37. The redbirds hung in there and with a huge dunk from Jackie Carmichael, brought the deficit back down to 1 again. With just 38 seconds remaining in the game, Anthony Cousin hit a clutch 3 to give ISU a 2 point lead. The whole stadium was going crazy with the sweet smell of victory filling the air. That was all shot down when a foul sent a Missouri State player to the line who made both free throws to tie the game at 65. We were so close too! But it’s not over yet, we’re going into overtime. ISU was dominant in OT and eventually sealed the win outscoring Missouri State 11-4 in the extra 5 minutes of play. What a great way to cap off a fun night filled with great basketball and funny moments, including me receiving the giant cutout of Justin Bieber’s face. Redbird Arena is a great place to go with friends and the men’s basketball team is truly talented. Go Redbirds!