March 14, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
For the third-straight year, the Illinois State men's basketball team has been selected to the National Invitation Tournament, as the Redbirds will travel to Dayton Wednesday, March 17, to face the Flyers in the first round of the 32-team tournament. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 6 p.m. CST, at UD Arena, in Dayton, Ohio.
The Redbirds, which own a 22-10 record on the season, enter the tournament as a No. 6 seed, while Dayton holds a No. 3 seed after posting a 20-12 mark. The last time ISU made three-straight postseason bids was in 1995-96 (NIT), 1996-97 (NCAA) and 1997-98 (NCAA).
"It is a great honor to be picked once again into the NIT," head coach Tim Jankovich said. "To reinforce the honor even more, you look at the field and see last year's national champion, North Carolina, the national runner-up from two years ago, Memphis, and teams like UConn, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State. We are in great company and I'm really excited for our players.
"The bad news is that we have an extremely difficult draw in Dayton. They are a team that maybe plays as well at home as anyone in the country."
Illinois State owns a 1-3 mark against Dayton in the all-time series, including a 55-48 loss to the Flyers in the second round of the 2008 National Invitation Tournament on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
For information about tickets, please visit GoRedbirds.com Monday.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, TRC gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
