Birds Fly North to Battle Bison

FARGO, N.D. - The Illinois State men's basketball team makes the trek north to Fargo, North Dakota, as ISU sophomore guard Mason Klabo makes a homecoming to the city, with the Redbirds facing off against the North Dakota State Bison in the first of two meetings of the schools this season.

QUICK HITTERS

• Through two games of the 2026-27 season, Illinois State senior Johnny Kinziger ha3 scored 47 points, which is tied for the ninth-most points through the first two games of the season in program history
• Illinois State sophomore guard Mason Klabo is a native of Fargo, North Dakota, and played his high school basketball at Fargo Davies HS. He graduated as the state of North Dakota's all-time leading scorer, and Gatorade High School Player of the Year
• ISU fell in its season opener in overtime at Saint Mary's, and the last time the Redbirds opened the season with an overtime game was during the 1989-90 season when ISU fell to Green Bay. That season the Redbirds, coached by Bob Bender, finished 18-13 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament by way of winning the 1990 MVC Championship
• The Redbirds split their two exhibition games during the preseason, topping Northwestern 70-64 at home, before falling at Green Bay 79-71 
• Illinois State ranks 18th in the country in effective field goal percentage, 34th in field goal percentage, 43rd in three-point field goal percentage, 50th in hree-pointers per game, and 66th in assists per game
• ISU is one of two schools in the NCAA - along with Florida - to return two players who have scored 1,000 or more points at their respective schools
• Against Saint Mary's, Johnny Kinziger scored 30 points with six made three-pointers and four assists. Over the last three seasons he is one of just six student-athletes under 6-0 to put up those numbers
• ISU is one of 12 schools in the country to return both of their top two scorers from last season
• Coming off a title at the 2025 season-ending Purple CBI and a semifinal appearance in the 2026 NIT, the Illinois State men's basketball team has won six of its last seven postseason tournament games. 
• Johnny Kinziger currently ranks 26th in school history in points after becoming the 47th player to eclipse the career 1,000-point plateau during the 2025-26 season. Classmate Chase Walker became the 48th member of the group, scoring his 1,000th career point against Dayton in the NIT Quarterfinal, and ranks 44th all-time in the school record book

HIGH PERCENTAGE

Three games into the 2026-27 season, Illinois State senior guard Johnny Kinziger is making .625 percent of his shots from the field. He's one of just 11 players in the country this season - at under 6-0 in height - to be making half of their field goals tried with at least 10 makes.
 

STRONG SEASON START

With his 30 points in the 2026-27 season debut, Johnny Kinziger tied for the third-most points in a season-opener since the 1963-64 season. Only Doug Collins (40 vs Oral Roberts in 1971) and Ron Jones (32 vs Indiana State in 1978) scored more in the opening game of the season for the Birds. Over his first two games of the season, his scoring total (47 points) is tied for the ninth best in school history.
 

EFFECTIVE MAKING

Illinois State has season effective field goal percentage of .631 this season, which is the 18th-highest total in the NCAA through games played on November 9. Traditional field goal percentage treats a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer as equal. Effective FG% adjusts for the extra point a 3-pointer provides by adding half a point to every 3-pointer made before dividing by total attempts.
 

1K RETURNING

Illinois State is one of two schools in the NCAA - along with Florida - to return two players who have scored 1,000 or more points while at their school. Johnny Kinziger (1,208) and Chase Walker (1,024) return for the Redbirds, as does the Florida duo of Alex Condon (1,181) and Thomas Haugh (1,111).
 

LOW JERSEY NUMBERS 

In the team's home-opening win against Central State, the Redbirds put together a starting lineup of Noah Cleveland, Mason Klabo, Demarion Burch, Malik Messina-Moore, and Johnny Kinziger. That starting lineup had a combined jersey total of 28 (0, 3, 5, 9, 11) which is the fifth-lowest starting lineup jersey combination for Illinois State since at least 1975-76.
 

DOING BIG THINGS AT UNDER 6-0

In the season opening game at Saint Mary's, Illinois State senior guard Johnny Kinziger scored 30 points while making 6-of-10 shots from long range and dishing out four assists. He is the only player this season and is one of six student-athletes over the past three seasons to score 30+ with 6+ made three pointers and four+ assists, with a height under 6-0.
 

THRIVING UNDER THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

In Illinois State's most recent 18 Nationally Televised Games (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, CBS, CBS Sports Network, FS1, and Peacock), the Redbirds are 14-4, including ISU's final three games of the 2025-26 season on ESPN 2 and ESPN. The current 14-3 streak directly ended a 10-game losing streak in those games, and the Redbirds were 12-18 in the 30 games prior to their current run.
 

BIG RETURNING

The Illinois State men's basketball team returns its top two scorers from last season and are one of just 12 schools in the country that returns each of their top two scorers.
 

GETTING BETTER YEAR OVER YEAR

Illinois State has bettered its win total in each season during head coach Ryan Pedon's tenure (he's had win totals of 11, 15, 22, and 23), and he's one of only two coaches in program history (the other is Kevin Stallings) the do that at Illinois State. Of the 30 head coaches in NCAA Division I that are in their fifth year at the program, Pedon is one of three to have increased his win total every season, joining Travis Steele at Miami, and Rod Strickland at LIU.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

During the 2025-26 season, the Redbirds out-scored opponents by 307 points at home, which is the highest total in school history, and the team's average margin of victory at home - 19.2 points per game - is also a CEFCU Arena record. (through the 1983-84 season)
 

REACHING A MILESTONE

Johnny Kinziger ranks 26th in school history as he eclipsed the career 1,000-point plateau on January 14, 2026, on the road at Indiana State. Classmate Chase Walker became the 48th player in school history — and second last season — to eclipse the 1,000-point mark as a Redbird, as he reached the mark in the first half against Dayton in the NIT.

2X FIRST TEAM ALL-MVC

Illinois State junior forward Chase Walker was named to the Missouri Valley Conference First Team; the second consecutive season he has earned this honor. He's one of just four players in program history to have been named First Team All-Conference twice in their careers with the Redbirds.

COUNTING THE KILL SHOTS

In basketball terminology, a "kill shot" is a run of 10 points or more in a game. This season Illinois State has two such kill shots, with both coming at home against Central State on November 5.