Belmont guard Carter Whitt led a balanced offensive effort by posting his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists, leading the fourth-seeded Bruins (22-10) to a 76-63 win versus No. 5 seed Illinois State (19-14) in the second quarterfinal game of the 2025 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at Enterprise Center.
Belmont advanced to the semifinals for a 2:30 pm matchup Saturday against top-seeded Drake (28-3), which earned its seventh consecutive Arch Madness victory with a 68-53 decision against No. 8 seed Southern Illinois in Friday’s first quarterfinal.
Whitt was one of two Bruins to post a double-double as Jonathan Pierre added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Belmont put six players in double figures and were paced by Tyler Lundblade’s 14 points. Sam Orme, Brody Peebles and Isaiah Walker all chipped in 11.
Illinois State was led by Dalton Banks, who scored a game-high 19 points in his 154th career game. Banks began his career at Southern Illinois and finishes his career fourth in Valley history for games played. Johnny Kinzinger added 12 points for the Redbirds.
While Illinois State struggled out of the gate, shooting 3-for-14 (.214) from the field with four turnovers, Belmont started hot, draining 10 of its first 14 field goal attempts, including a stretch of seven consecutive makes, to build a 23-7 lead with 11:50 left. Six different Bruins contributed to the opening salvo, paced by Peebles and Whitt, who each scored six during the outburst.
The Redbirds gained their footing on a Kinzinger jumper, followed by a Malachi Poindexter 3-pointer to pull within 23-12, but the Bruins responded with a 10-0 run to blow out to a 33-12 lead with 6:23 remaining in the half. The momentum continued for the Bruins all the way to the halftime buzzer. While Illinois State had not trailed by double-digits at halftime in any game this season, Belmont cruised into the break with a 41-18 lead.
Highlighting the disparity in first-half production, seven Belmont players scored at least one basket in the opening 20 minutes as the Bruins shot 58.1 percent (18-31) from the field, while Illinois State managed to convert just 8-of-30 (.267) field goal tries in the frame.
Illinois State’s previous halftime scoring low was 25 points in an eventual 74-68 home win Jan. 18 versus Missouri State, but they could not flip the script Friday.
After Belmont pushed its lead to 28, 46-18, by scoring the first five points of the second half, Illinois State attempted to rally by launching a 13-1 run. Jack Daugherty started the run with a 3-pointer and Kinzinger dropped in a pair of triples, the second pulling Illinois State to within 47-31 with 13:58 remaining, but Belmont temporarily regained control with a mini, 5-0 run from Peebles.
Illinois State made one more push as Belmont went cold. While the Bruins suffered through a 1-for-7 shooting stretch, Illinois State enjoyed a 7-0 scoring run to pull within 54-41 on a Chase Walker layup with 8:59 left. With the teams exchanging baskets through the next three minutes, Illinois State was unable to get closer until Banks drained a pair of free throws with 5:07 remaining to pull within 60-49. Orme stemmed the tide, however, by draining a wing 3-pointer for a 65-51 lead with 3:55 remaining and Illinois State never got the deficit into single digits.
