March 15, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
For the second-straight season and for the 10th time overall, the Illinois State men's basketball team has accepted a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. The Redbirds, seeded No. 5, will travel to No. 4-seed Kansas State Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. CST start in the 2009 NIT.
The matchup will be a homecoming of sort for a number of Illinois State staff members, including head coach Tim Jankovich (Kansas State, '82), ISU Director of Athletics Dr. Sheahon Zenger (Kansas State, '87) and assistant coach Anthony Beane (Kansas State, '94). This will be the second meeting between Illinois State and Kansas State, with the Wildcats winning, 87-86, in overtime Dec. 19, 1987, in the first round of the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn.
"In this day and age it is a great honor to be invited to the NIT and we certainly approach it that way," said Jankovich. "We are going to be playing an outstanding program and look forward to the challenge."
Illinois State enters the game with a 24-9 record after advancing to the title game of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Kansas State is 21-11 overall and finished tied for fourth in the Big 12 Conference.
The Redbirds are making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons when Illinois State advanced to consecutive NCAA Tournaments. ISU owns a 7-9 all-time record in the event, including a win last season over Utah State in the opening round on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
The ISU-Kansas State game has not been selected to be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
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