NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State men's basketball head coach Dan Muller has announced the 2019-20 Redbird non-conference schedule, which includes games against four teams that were in the 2019 NCAA Tournament field.
Of the 10 known opponents for the season, four (Belmont, UCF, Cincinnati, and Northern Kentucky) played in the NCAA Tournament, and another (TCU) competed in the NIT. In total, six opponents (Belmont, UCF, Cincinnati, Bowling Green/Western Kentucky, TCU, Northern Kentucky) won at least 20 games a season ago.
"I'm excited about our non-conference schedule," said Muller. "It is challenging and will prepare us for the tough Missouri Valley Conference season. There is a great mix of home, road, and neutral site games against quality opponents, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how our team handles these opportunities. I can't wait to see everyone fill up Redbird Arena with the exciting changes to the facility."
For the first time in over a decade, the Redbirds will open their season at home in two consecutive years, as ISU welcomes 2019 NCAA Tournament participant Belmont on Nov. 6. The Bruins earned an at-large spot into last season's NCAA Tournament and finished with a 27-6 record, highlighted by an 11-point win over Temple in the NCAA First Four, before falling by two to sixth-seeded Maryland in the first round.
Four days later the Redbirds welcome Little Rock, a team that went 10-21 last season but returns two of its top three scorers in Markquis Nowell (11.1 ppg and a team-leading 105 assists) and Nikola Maric (10.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
A third consecutive home game follows on Nov. 17, as the Redbirds host UCF, who finished with a 24-9 overall record in 2018-19. Last season as the nine seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Knights ran past VCU by 15 points in the opening round, before falling by one to overall top-seeded Duke in the second round.
The first game away from Redbird Arena comes on Nov. 22 in the US Virgin Islands at the Paradise Jam Tournament, as ISU will face its second consecutive Athletic Conference opponent in Cincinnati. Last season as a NCAA Tournament seven seed, the Bearcats fell in the opening round to Iowa. Cincinnati and new head coach John Brannen return its top three scorers, including 2018-19 AAC Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland.
Depending on ISU's result against the Bearcats, the Redbirds will face off against either Bowling Green (22-12 last season) or Western Kentucky (20-14 last season) on either Nov. 23 or Nov. 24. On Nov. 25 Illinois State will see one of four teams from the other side of the bracket, which includes Nevada (29-5), Grand Canyon (20-14), Valparaiso (15-18), and Fordham (12-20).
Upon returning from the Virgin Islands, the squad will face off against NCAA Division II Purdue Northwest on Saturday, Nov. 30.
On Dec. 3, the Redbirds will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. Last season TCU finished with a 23-14 record and fell in the championship game of the 2019 NIT Tournament to conference-foe Texas. The Horned Frogs return top scorer Desmond Bane, who averaged 15.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game a season ago.
ISU returns to Redbird Arena on Saturday, Dec. 7 to host a second Ohio Valley Conference opponent in Morehead State. Last season the Eagles finished with a 13-20 record, but the squad returns two of its top four leading scorers in Jordan Walker (15.8 ppg) and De'Von Cooper (8.8 ppg).
A week later ISU travels to the northern end of Kentucky to face off against the NKU Norse, who finished 2018-19 with a 26-9 overall record and a Horizon League Tournament championship. The Norse fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Texas Tech.
The final non-conference home game for the Redbirds comes on Dec. 18 as ISU hosts UIC (16-16 last season). The Flames are scheduled to return every player that averaged at least six points per game last season, including its three players that averaged double-figure scoring in Tarkus Ferguson (15.5 ppg), Marcus Ottey (14.8 ppg), and Godwin Boahen (14.8 ppg).
For the final non-conference game of the season the Redbirds travel to San Antonio, Texas, to face off against the UTSA Roadrunners. UTSA, which finished last season with a 17-15 record in Conference USA, brings back one of the top scoring tandems in the country in Jhivvan Jackson (22.9 ppg last season) and Keaton Wallace (20.2 ppg).
Illinois State returns three letterwinners from last season's 17-16 team including Zach Copeland (9.3 ppg), Matt Chastain (3.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg), and Rey Idowu (2.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg). Taylor Bruninga missed the entire 2018-19 season with an injury after averaging 4.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game as a freshman a year earlier. The newcomers to the team include Ricky Torres, Keith Fisher III, Jaycee Hillsman, Dedric Boyd, Hank Beard, and Lijah Donelly and freshmen Abdou Ndiaye, DJ Horne, Antonio Reeves, Harouna Sissoko, and Malcolm Miller.
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