Men's Basketball Hosts Northern Iowa in Mid-Week MVC Contest

NORMAL, Ill. - After topping I-74 Rival Bradley on Saturday afternoon, the Illinois State men's basketball team turns its sights onto the Northern Iowa Panthers, in an 8 p.m. tip-off inside CEFCU Arena on Wednesday night.

QUICK HITTERS

• ISU ranks in the top-100 in the NCAA in 11 different statistical categories, including 35th in scoring defense, 47th in scoring margin and 48th in field goal percentage
• Chase Walker was named the MVC Player of the Week for the second time this season on January 19, the 11th time in school history that a student-athlete has earned two or more Player of the Week honors in the same season
• Illinois State junior Johnny Kinziger became ISU's 47th member of the 1,000-point club on January 14 at Indiana State
• In ISU's loss to UIC, the Redbirds and Flames were tied for 15:33 of game-play time, the highest single-game total since 2008-09. The game also had KenPom's 11th-ranked "Game Tension" score
• Johnny Kinziger has climbed into 46th in school history in career scoring, and his 1,012 points as a Redbird are 10 behind 45th 
• Ty Pence's .611 effective field goal percentage is the fourth-best by a Redbird in the KenPom era (2004-present)
• ISU has out-scored its MVC opponents by 60 points in the second half, the largest margin of any school in the conference, and the Redbirds are one of two schools to have a positive scoring ratio in both halves
• Redbird freshman Mason Klabo was named the MVC Freshman of the Week on December 8, the second ISU player this season to earn the honor as Ty'Reek Coleman in the season's opening week
• The Redbirds have 11 players that have scored in double-digits, the most in the MVC
• Ty'Reek Coleman is one of 11 freshmen in the country since 1980-81 to average double digit points with shooting splits of at least .520/.465/.680
• This season is the second time in program history that the Redbirds have had 11 wins before the new year
• Illinois State's 52-point win over Coastal Carolina on November 23 is the 20th-largest margin of victory in the NCAA this season by a NCAA Division I school against a NCAA Division I school
• For the seventh time in program history, the Redbirds have played in all four time zones within the contiguous United States, having played in the Eastern (at Ohio Univ.), in the Central (home vs Cornell), Mountain (vs Utah State in Salt Lake City), and Pacific (vs USC in Los Angeles)
• This season the Redbirds have had 11 runs of 10 or more points, including a season-high 21 on November 20 against Rockford
• ISU's Kinziger has the ninth-highest field goal percentage in the country who have played at least 32 minutes per game, and are under 6-0
• The Redbirds are coming off a post-season tournament championship at the Purple CBI hosted in Daytona Beach, Florida

REDBIRDS IN THE TOP-100

Illinois State ranks in the top-100 in 11 statistical categories this season, including: scoring defense (35th), scoring margin (47th), field goal percentage (48th), effective field goal percentage (49th), and field goal percentage defense (69th)

WALKER EARNS SECOND PLAYER OF THE WEEK

For the second time this season, Illinois State junior center Chase Walker has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after splitting the weekends' games, highlighted by a 26-point win over I-74 rival Bradley on Saturday (Jan. 17) afternoon. Walker was previously named MVC Player of the Week on January 5. During the week he averaged an ISU-best 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, as he scored 20+ points in each of the contests. He recorded his first double-double of the season on Saturday against Bradley with 20 points and a career-high-tying 11 rebounds. Against the Braves he made 8-of-12 shots from the field. The Player of the Week award was his fourth of his career, which is tied for the fourth-most in a career by a Redbird student-athlete, behind only Osiris Eldridge, Rico Hill, and Jackie Carmichael

LOTS OF TIE TIME

In Illinois State's loss to UIC on January 10, the Redbirds and Flames were tied for 15:39 of game-play time, the highest total for ISU since 2008-09 (when time differential was readily recorded). The next highest tie time was from the 2017-18 season when ISU and Loyola were knotted for 10:33. As a result, the KenPom statistic "Game Tension" had the game with the 11th-highest total in the NCAA this season. Game tension is "A measure of how close the win probability is to 50% throughout the game (using a win probability algorithm that assumes the teams are of equal strength)."
 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Over the two games during the week – a 73-56 win over Drake and a 73-47 win over Evansville – Walker averaged 19.5 points per game on the week, the second-highest total in the MVC, as he helped the Redbirds remain undefeated in MVC play. His field goal percentage was the fifth-best in the MVC during the time frame (65.2%). Against Evansville he scored a season-high 22 points, his sixth consecutive game scoring in double-digits, as he has scored 15+ in each of the last four games - all in MVC play. He is third in the MVC in scoring during conference games and is one of two players in the MVC to rank inside of the top 15 in conference play in points, rebounds, and assists.

EFFECTIVE MAKES

This season ISU's Ty Pence has the program's fourth-highest effective field goal percentages in the KenPom era (2004 to present) in program history. Effective field goal percentage is computed from (FGM + 0.5*3PM)/FGA. This differs from conventional field goal percentage by taking into account the extra value of a made 3-pointer.

REACHING A MILESTONE

Johnny Kinziger ranks 46th in school history as he eclipsed the career 1,000-point plateau on January 14 on the road at Indiana State. 

SETTING UP FOR THE BIG FINISH

This season in MVC play, the Redbirds have out-scored their opponents by 60 points in the second half, the highest margin in the conference. The Redbirds have also out-scored their opponents by 25 in the first half, the third-best mark in the conference. The Birds are one of just two schools in the conference (along with Murray State) with positive first and second half scoring margins.
 

11 WINS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR

In recording their win over Drake on December 29, the Redbirds reached the 11-win plateau before New Year's Day for the first time since 2008-09, and just the second time in program history.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS

With Illinois State's win at the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational, the Redbirds secured their 17th in-season tournament win in program history, the first since 2010-11, and the first outside of Normal since 2008-09.

AROUND THE COUNTRY

This year, when the Redbirds competed inside the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (mountain time zone), ISU had played in each of the four time zones in the contiguous United States, opening at Ohio (eastern time zone), and also playing in Los Angeles against USC (western time zone), with home games being played in the central time zone. This season was the first time since 2017-18 that ISU had played in all four time zones in the same season. In 1994-95 ISU played in five different time zones, with games in Hilo, Hawai'i; in Santa Clara, California; Logan Utah; Normal, Illinois; and Terre Haute, Indiana. The team also played in all four time zones in 1966-67, 1973-74, 1975-76, 1989-90

BIG SEASON FOR THE ROOK

Illinois State freshman Ty'Reek Coleman is one of just 11 freshmen in the NCAA since 2010-11 to average at least 10.0 points per game with shooting splits of at least .520 / .450 / .680.

BIG MARGINS

On November 23, ISU secured a 52-point, 94-42 win over Coastal Carolina. The 52-point margin of victory is tied for the 20th-largest in NCAA Division I this season against a NCAA Division I opponent. Only Gonzaga (72 vs Southern Utah), Georgia (65 vs Md. Eastern Shore), Iowa State (64 vs Alcorn State), UConn (63 vs UMass-Lowell), Louisville (59 vs South Carolina State), Kansas State (59 vs Mississippi Valley State), Saint Louis (59 vs Bethune-Cookman), Illinois (58 vs Jackson State), Duke (58 vs Niagara), Louisville (57 vs NJIT), Baylor (57 vs Alcorn State), Miami (56 vs Delaware State), Iowa (55 vs Bucknell), Duke (55 vs Army), Gonzaga (55 vs Texas Southern), High Point (55 vs Gardner-Webb), Arkansas (54 vs Jackson State), Oklahoma (53 vs Stetson), and Ohio State (53, Mount St. Mary's) have a higher total against a Division I school.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

Not only was Illinois State's win over Coastal Carolina one of the top scoring margin totals in the NCAA this season, but by holding the Chanticleers to 42 points, it is tied for the 15th fewest points allowed against a Division I school in the country this season.

CLIMBING NCAA CAREER LISTS

Over his two-plus seasons as a Redbird, ISU junior Johnny Kinziger has a career free throw percentage of .853 which is the 35th-highest active career free throw percentage in NCAA Division I (minimum of 110 free throw makes). Boden Skunberg ranks 90th among active players in career points, while his 133 games played puts him 23rd on the list.

SMALL PERCENTAGE

This season Johnny Kinziger has made nearly half of his 185 field goal attempts, and he is one of nine players in the NCAA this season to be shooting .425 or better in 32 or more minutes played per game, all while being under 6-0 tall.

BIG HOME OPENER FOR THE ROOK

In his second game in a Redbird uniform, and the first at home, freshman Ty'Reek Coleman shined, scoring 24 points, which is the 21st-most by a freshman in program history, the second-highest in a home debut by a freshman, and he is one of just 19 freshmen in the NCAA Division I to have had a game scoring total of 24.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING

Through 18 games this season, Illinois State has had 11 scoring runs of at least ten points, with the longest-such mark being the 21-0 first-half run against the Rockford Regents. 
 

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Using his strong second game, Illinois State freshman Ty'Reek Coleman was named the MVC Freshman of the Week, just the third Redbird to earn this honor, joining teammates Johnny Kinziger (Jan. 29, 2024 and Feb. 26, 2024) and Jack Daugherty (Dec. 23, 2025).

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Returning three of its top four scorers from last season, including two All-Missouri Valley Conference selections, the 2025-26 Illinois State men's basketball team — and players on the team — have high expectations put on it from numerous preseason prognostications. Mid-Major Madness, Lindy's Basketball Magazine, Blue Ribbon Basketball Magazine, and the MVC media poll have the Redbirds picked to win the MVC in 2025-26. Mid-Major Madness, Lindy's Basketball Magazine, and Blue Ribbon all have returning forward Chase Walker named as the Preseason Player of the Year, while Johnny Kinziger was named to the Preseason First Team by Blue Ribbon Basketball Magazine and Lindy's Basketball Magazine. The Field of 68 ranked Illinois State as the #3 Mid-Major Team in the country in their preseason poll, while also naming Walker the Mid-Major Preseason Player of the Year.

RETURNING SCORING

The Redbirds return players that combined to score 1,786 points from last season — 65.49 percent of the team's scoring — which is the fifth-highest total in the NCAA returning, and the team's returning scoring percentage is 10th-best heading into the 2025-26 season.

STAYING TRADITIONAL

Starting in the 2023-24 season, the NCAA started allowing student-athletes to wear non-traditional jersey numbers, outside of the typical 0-5 numbers. In the three seasons' worth of rosters since the adjustment, there have been just 15 schools to not have a "new number" on its rosters. Joining Illinois State on that list include Alabama State, Army West Point, Bethune-Cookman, Binghamton, Central Michigan, Delaware, ETSU, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Mississippi Valley, UMES, Vermont, Western Illinois, and Wright State.