The 6-foot-9 senior forward for Illinois State played here once before and in his words: “I was pretty bad…I was terrible.”
He was a freshman on the Redbird team that came to Dayton for a first round NIT game in 2010 and was blown out, 63-42.
“Dayton’s team was really fast and we just weren’t prepared for what they brought to us,” Carmichael said. “Collectively as a team we didn’t play very good and me? I had like three points and four rebounds.
“They were a high-value team and went on to win the NIT. But us, we just had a long four-hour bus ride home. That’s why I knew I had to find some redemption tonight.”
And boy did he ever find it!
He scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor, pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and swatted a pair of Flyers shots as his Illinois State team edged UD, 74-73.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Flyers and now forces them to quickly regroup — possibly without their best player, Kevin Dillard – for a talented 8-3 Murray State team that comes to town, Saturday.
Dillard suddenly dropped to a crouch — his face contorted in pain — as he was bringing the ball up the court with 4:19 left and UD trailing, 68-64. He was helped off the court by trainers, disappeared into the tunnel and 40 minutes after the game had ended Coach Archie Miller said he still hadn’t seen him, nor was he sure what had happened.,
He assumed Dillard’s back locked up in a spasm and said his senior point guard’s absence makes him believe he might be doubtful for Saturday’s game.
The Flyers still clawed their way back into contention against the Redbirds and after a time out, inbounded the ball with 15.5 seconds left. But Devin Oliver’s shot missed just before the buzzer and Illinois State escaped with the win.
“Oh yeah we missed Kevin some,” said the Flyers freshman forward Dyshawn Pierre, who finished with 14 points. “He always takes charge amd makes us feel more calm under pressure. He’s a guy you look for.”
The Redbirds say the same thing about Carmichael and, in a way, so did Miller after the game:
“He was terrific. He’s an All-American, A potential first round draft pick. His numbers this year are the same as last year. He’s averaging 18 points a game. He plays against Louisville and gets 18. … It’s not like we didn’t try against him. He’s just a heck of a player.
“But even so, we didn’t play tough enough. We didn’t rebound with enough physicality.”
Miller said it wasn’t just Carmichael who hurt the Flyers on the glass, but Redbird guards got rebounds and second-effort shots.
Meantime, his starting backcourt struggled. Dillard and Vee Sanford combined for 11 turnovers.
“Hopefully we’ll be better for this,” Miller said. “We can learn something from a game like this. We got our medicine tonight…Now we have to show what we’re made of… Saturday we can show the kind of team we are.”
In other words, the Flyers will step into UD Arena looking for the same thing Jackie Carmichael found Wednesday night:
Redemption.
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