ST. LOUIS - Osiris Eldridge was anointed as the Missouri Valley Conference's best player prior to the season's opening tip.
In Illinois State's 73-49 win against No. 2 seed Creighton, he proved why.
Eldridge scored a game-high 21 points, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and 4-for-5 from the 3-point line, as the Redbirds knocked off the Bluejays in a blowout.
Teammate Champ Oguchi poured in 18 more as he shot 6-for-8 from behind the arc in what seemed to be a trend in the 24-point win.
Illinois State (24-8) shot 54.9 percent from the field (28-for-51) and made 13 of its 19 3-point attempts. On the other hand, Creighton (26-7) was ice cold, shooting 27.4 percent from the field and 4-for-22 (18.2 percent) from the 3-point line.
Guard Booker Woodfox, the Valley's Player of the Year award winner, finished with 13 points, but only shot 4-of-14 from the field.
Last season, it was Drake that knocked off the Redbirds in a tournament-ending blow out, but this year, it was Illinois State sinking shot-after-shot to pull away from its opponents.
"We made it to sunday last year and it didn't end right. Champ sat out last year and he watched it," Eldridge said. "Now, to get a chance to be on the floor tomorrow ... I can't speak for him, but from my standpoint, I'm not going to try to let tomorrow end like it ended last year."
The Redbirds will meet No. 1 seed Northern Iowa (22-10) in the conference tournament's championship game on Sunday. After being tied at halftime, the Panthers dispatched of No. 4 seed Bradley, 76-62.
Forward Adam Koch (22 points)and guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe (21) led the second half surge against the Braves.
"We had some things going on offense today, and in the second half, Kwadzo's ability to get to the basket was very important," UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said. "It's never easy when you're playing Bradley, and they do such a good job of guarding you. I'm fortunate that our offense was going in the second half."
Bradley (18-14) was led by forward Theron Wilson, who scored 16 points and guard Sam Maniscalco, who added 14 in the losing effort.
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