The Illinois State men’s basketball team is preparing for the 2026 Arch Madness tournament in St. Louis, following a two-game winning streak. The Redbirds will play against either Northern Iowa or Evansville on Friday night at the Enterprise Center, with tip-off scheduled for 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the MVC TV Network and ESPN+, and fans can also follow live stats or listen via the Illinois State Radio Network.
Illinois State has achieved back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2008-09 and 2009-10. Head coach Ryan Pedon is now one of only five coaches in program history to reach this milestone. Junior Johnny Kinziger currently holds eighth place in career three-point baskets made at Illinois State, while Chase Walker was named to the All-MVC First Team for a second consecutive season—making him just the fourth player in school history to earn multiple First Team honors.
The Redbirds have recently won two tournaments: last season’s Purple CBI and this year’s Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend. Ty Pence played a leading role in both tournaments, earning All-Tournament Team recognition at the Purple CBI and MVP honors during Thanksgiving weekend.
This season, Illinois State limited opponents to an offensive rebounding percentage of 25.1%, ranking them eleventh nationally in that category. At home inside CEFCU Arena, they outscored opponents by a total of 286 points—the largest margin since at least 1992-93—and posted an average margin of victory of 19.1 points per game, setting a new arena record.
Nine different players have led Illinois State in scoring during games this season, tying them with several other NCAA Division I programs for most individual leaders. In conference play, ISU has outscored its Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) opponents by 27 points in first halves (fifth-best) and by 64 points in second halves (third-best).
Freshman Ty’Reek Coleman has scored 315 points so far this season—the sixth-most by a freshman in program history—and is within eight points of moving up another spot on that list.
Kinziger reached his career milestone of joining ISU’s “1,000-point club” on January 14 against Indiana State; he now ranks thirty-sixth all-time at the school with 1,144 career points.
Against Valparaiso on February 12, Illinois State went a perfect 17-for-17 from the free throw line—a mark that stands as their fourth-best single-game performance ever and thirteenth-best nationally this year.
Illinois State features two student-athletes from North Dakota—second-most among Division I schools after North Dakota itself—and eleven players who have scored double digits during games this year (tied for most in MVC).
In their last fourteen nationally televised games across major networks such as ESPN and CBS Sports Network, Illinois State has gone 12-2—a significant turnaround after previously enduring a ten-game losing streak under similar circumstances.
Graduate student Boden Skunberg was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week after averaging nearly fifteen points over wins against Northern Iowa and Belmont.
Coleman’s freshman campaign places him among top performers historically at ISU across several statistical categories including three-point percentage (fourth), field goal percentage (sixth), steals (tied-twelfth), assists (twentieth), and more.
On November 23rd, ISU recorded one of its largest-ever victories with a fifty-two point win over Coastal Carolina—tying for twenty-first biggest margin nationwide against Division I opposition this season—and held their opponent to forty-two points defensively (tied fifteenth fewest allowed).
Since NCAA rules changed regarding jersey numbers starting with the 2023-24 season, Illinois State remains one of only fifteen schools not to adopt non-traditional numbers on its roster.
According to information from the official website, Illinois State Redbirds benefits from initiatives like the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund which supports competitiveness and recruitment efforts. The men’s basketball team had one of its best starts recently with an eight-win-two-loss record early in their schedule (source). Student-athlete preparation includes access to facilities such as OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center (source), reflecting support provided through their connection with Illinois State University. Fans can find news updates, schedules, rosters and resources via official channels (source). The Redbirds compete across various regions as part of NCAA Division I events (source).
As Arch Madness approaches, Illinois State looks to build upon these achievements when they take on either Northern Iowa or Evansville Friday night.
