NORMAL, Ill. – Following a semifinal appearance in the 2026 NIT a season ago, the Illinois State men's basketball team has announced its 2026-27 non-conference schedule, highlighted by five games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season, including a season-opening game at Saint Mary's, and an early November game at Purdue.
A pair of exhibition games set the stage for the season, the first on October 18 against the Northwestern Wildcats with a 4 p.m. tip-off inside CEFCU Arena. The second game is on October 23 at Green Bay, near the hometown of Redbird senior Johnny Kinziger.
The regular season opens on Monday, November 2, when the squad travels to the West Coast for a battle with the Saint Mary's Gaels, a team that went 27-6 last season while advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Three days later the Redbirds host Central State University out of Wilberforce, Ohio, for the regular season home opener on November 5.
The Redbirds and Purdue Boilermakers will meet for the ninth time in the series history on Monday, November 9, inside of Mackey Arena. Last season, Purdue finished the season with a 30-9 overall record, advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight.
On Friday, November 13, ISU travels to Fargo, North Dakota – the hometown of Illinois State guard Mason Klabo – to take on the North Dakota State Bison in the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. Last season, NDSU had a 27-8 record, falling in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
ISU hosts back-to-back games inside CEFCU Arena when the Birds bring in Bellarmine University on November 17 and then Eureka College on November 19. Last season, Bellarmine had a 13-19 record, with Eureka being the final game before ISU's trip to the Acrisure Series.
Santa Clara is the first of two opponents in the Palm Springs, California, based Acrisure Series, as the Birds will face off against the Broncos on Monday, November 23, at 6 p.m. (CT). Last year Santa Clara went 26-9, falling in the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
The Redbirds and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane meet a day later on Tuesday, November 24, with a 3:30 p.m. (CT) tip-off. Tulsa was 30-8 in the championship game of the 2026 NIT.
Back-to-back nearby road contests follow, as ISU travels to Charleston, Illinois, to open December on Wednesday, December 2, against Eastern Illinois, before going north on Saturday, December 5, to take on the Chicago State Cougars.
The non-conference schedule closes with back-to-back home contests in a pair of return games, hosting Long Beach State on Thursday, December 10 in a return game from last season, followed by the non-conference closing meeting with the NDSU Bison on Sunday, December 13.
The Redbirds are one of two schools in NCAA Division I to return two players who have 1,000 career points at their school (along with Florida), and the program has bettered its win total in each of head coach Ryan Pedon's four seasons. Last season, ISU was 23-13, falling in the NIT Semifinals to eventual champion Auburn.
ISU returns its two leading scorers from last season in 6-9 forward Chase Walker (13.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg), and 5-11 guard Johnny Kinziger (11.5 ppg, 119 assists), in addition to bringing back rising sophomore Mason Klabo (5.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg), senior guard Ty Blake (seven points and two rebounds in eight games), and rising redshirt freshmen Isaac Ericksen (6-8 guard/forward) and Nick Allen (6-11 forward).
Among the newcomers to the 2026-27 roster include forwards Noah Cleveland (NCAA Division III All-American in 2025-26) and Louie Semona (2025 All-NEC Second Team), and guards Deng Garang (10.8 ppg at LeMoyne in 2025-26), Demarion Burch (8.8 points per game last season), and Zaxton King (7.3 ppg and 61 assists at Missouri State in 2025-26). Three freshmen – Matthew Szafoni (6-9 forward), Jordan Williams (6-6 guard), and Leyton Wolf (6-9 forward) are additional newcomers for the Illinois State squad this season.
