The season will continue for the Illinois State University men’s basketball team.
The Redbirds announced Monday they will accept a spot in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational scheduled for March 22-26 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
“We’re very excited to accept this bid to play in the CBI,” third-year ISU coach Ryan Pedon said in a news release. “Having the ability to extend our season is a great thing for our program for a multitude of reasons.
“First, it will give our players an opportunity to play more basketball together. The chemistry in our program is very special, and this tournament will provide another shared experience for the group. Secondly, being invited to play postseason basketball represents growth for our program. It has been nine seasons since we have been invited to play in a postseason tournament.”
The Redbirds have a 19-14 overall record following play in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last week in St. Louis. As the No. 5 seed, ISU posted a 70-54 first-round win over Missouri State on Thursday before absorbing a 76-63 quarterfinal loss to Belmont the following day.
The 19 wins are the Redbirds’ most since 2017, the last time ISU played in a postseason event after the MVC tourney. That year, the Redbirds were an automatic selection in the National Invitation Tournament [NIT] after topping the Valley in the regular season but losing to Wichita State in the Arch Madness title game.
Dan Muller’s Redbirds won their NIT opener against UC-Irvine at home, but missed an opportunity to host Illinois in the quarterfinals after a 63-62 second-round loss to Central Florida [UCF].
The single-elimination CBI will play its first-round games on March 22-23. ISU will learn its opening opponent when the field is set Sunday, after the announcement of the NCAA and NIT brackets.
This will be the second CBI appearance for the Redbirds, who advanced to the semifinals in 2014 but lost to eventual champion Siena.
