McLean County Times

Illinois State University’s men’s basketball team will begin its 2025-26 season on Thursday, November 6, with an away game against the Ohio Bobcats at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The match is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can also follow live statistics online or listen via the Illinois State Radio Network.

The Redbirds enter the new season as the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), according to a poll of conference coaches. Last year, Illinois State set a school record by making 341 three-point field goals, surpassing their previous best from the 2017-18 season. The team is coming off a postseason tournament championship at the Purple College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Illinois State carries a three-game win streak into this season, which ranks as the fourth-longest active streak in NCAA Division I after opening night. Only Florida, Chattanooga, Nebraska, and Eastern Illinois have longer current streaks. The Redbirds are one of just 16 schools nationwide to have won their final game of last season.

Returning players account for 1,786 points from last year—65.49 percent of total team scoring—which is the fifth-highest returning total among NCAA teams. The returning scoring percentage is tenth-best nationally heading into this season.

Last year’s sophomore duo of Johnny Kinziger and Chase Walker combined for 1,042 points—the highest-scoring sophomore pair in program history and second-highest among all NCAA teams last season. Both players scored over 500 points each; only eight sets of sophomores since 2020-21 have achieved that mark in a single season.

Preseason predictions place high expectations on Illinois State this year. “Mid-Major Madness,” “Lindy's Basketball Magazine,” “Blue Ribbon Basketball Magazine,” and the MVC media poll all picked the Redbirds to win their conference. Several publications named Chase Walker as Preseason Player of the Year; Johnny Kinziger was selected for preseason first teams by both Blue Ribbon and Lindy’s magazines. According to The Field of 68 preseason poll, Illinois State ranks third among mid-major programs nationally, with Walker again recognized as Mid-Major Preseason Player of the Year.

Statistically, Illinois State made 48.2 percent of its shots from the field last season—the ninth-best mark in school history—and shot nearly 75 percent from the free throw line (seventh-best). Their effective field goal percentage ranked thirteenth nationally.

Guard Johnny Kinziger collected 137 rebounds last year—the fourth-most among NCAA players listed at 5 feet 11 inches or shorter—while Jack Daugherty made 59 three-pointers as a freshman with a .476 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

Turnover management was another area of improvement: In 36 games last season, Illinois State had single-digit turnovers in fourteen contests—a new program record since tracking began in 1988-89.

Chase Walker drew fouls at an average rate of 7.4 per forty minutes played last year—seventh-highest nationally—and grabbed ninety offensive rebounds (second-most by an ISU sophomore).

In ten games last season, Illinois State made more than half its field goals, over forty percent from three-point range, and at least seventy-five percent on free throws—a feat tied for most such games nationwide with St. Thomas University.

According to KenPom.com analytics, Illinois State posted its highest-ever adjusted offensive efficiency rating (112.7) since data became available for college basketball in the late nineties; Stathead’s Offensive Rating metric also showed a near ten-point improvement over any previous ISU team since that time period.

The Redbirds will look to build on these achievements when they open their campaign against Ohio on Thursday evening.