Illinois State Redbirds
Overall Record: 18-13
Conference Record: 12-6
Conference Standing: T-2nd/10th
Head Coach: Dan Muller
Team MVP: DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (14.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.9 APG, .706 FT %)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998
Conference Tournament Champions: 1983, 1990, 1997, 1998
Regular Season Conference Champions: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1978, 1989, 1991
Illinois State’s DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, right, pulls down a rebound next to Kentucky’s Charles Matthews (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/James Crisp).
Illinois State has been one of those up and down teams this season. They played top ranked teams Maryland and Kentucky to close games earlier this season. Though both teams were able to pull away near the end. Apart from Maryland and Kentucky, ISU has five other out of conference losses, including San Diego State, TCU, South Dakota State, UAB, and Saint Joseph’s. The Redbirds are 11-5 in conference. They defeated Wichita State at home earlier this month to give the Shockers their first conference loss of the season. ISU also split the season series with Evanville, the 2nd place team in the Missouri Valley Conference. ISU had season splits with Northern Iowa, Indiana State, SIUE, and Missouri State as well. So the Birds have been up and down and it just depends which ISU team shows up on a given night. Look for the Birds to have a seed anywhere between two and four for the MVC tournament. Last year, ISU made a run to the MVC Tournament Championship and nearly won, before blowing a big second half lead the Northern Iowa. They have the potential to win the tournament if they can string together a few good games.
