McLean County Times

The Illinois State Redbirds are set to face the Missouri State Bears in the first round of the MVC Tournament. The game will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Fans can watch the game on Gray TV or ESPN+ and listen to it on WJBC 93.7 FM and 1230 AM.

In recent achievements, Dalton Banks from ISU reached a milestone by scoring his 1,000th point during a senior day game against Evansville. He is close to another milestone with 399 career assists. Chase Walker is noted for his high field goal percentage, ranking second in the MVC with 58.1 percent accuracy this season.

Illinois State's team performance has been noteworthy this season as they rank eighth nationally in effective field goal percentage and have recorded six games with five or fewer turnovers. The team also managed to prevent any offensive rebounds from Evansville in a recent match.

The Redbirds' opponents, Missouri State Bears, come into this matchup after a series of losses, their last victory being against Evansville on February 12th. Key players include Vincent Brady II and Dez White who both scored significantly in their latest overtime loss against Drake.

ISU's Jack Daugherty stands out among freshmen with a high three-point shooting percentage and has made significant contributions throughout the season alongside sophomores Chase Walker and Johnny Kinziger.

The Illinois State men's basketball team was ranked fourth in the preseason poll while Johnny Kinziger was named to Bracketeer.org's All-American watch list for non-power conferences.

Doug Collins, an ISU basketball legend, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on October 13th as part of its class of 2024.