image courtesy of goredbirds.com
NORMAL, Ill. – Just eight weeks away from tipoff, the Illinois State University men’s basketball schedule is officially finalized as the Missouri Valley Conference released its full slate Tuesday.
The Redbirds will host Missouri State on Dec. 1, a rare MVC matchup in the middle of the non-conference part of the schedule and the earliest conference opener in ISU history.
Otherwise, the MVC will return to its normal 18-game, home-and-home format after Christmas. In ISU’s case, this will begin with a matchup on Jan. 2 when the Redbirds travel to Valparaiso.
ISU will play every Wednesday and Saturday, for the most part. A trio of Sunday games and a lone Tuesday matchup round out the conference schedule.
ISU will welcome Bradley to Redbird Arena on Jan. 16 and head to Peoria to square off with the Braves on Feb. 19 in the Interstate 74 rivalry.
Loyola is the reigning MVC regular-season and tournament champion, but Drake also made the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid. Those two teams, which each went 26-5, will make the trip to Normal during the first half of MVC play which imposes a difficult January schedule for the Redbirds.
MVC start times and television network designations will be announced at a later date.
Here is the Redbirds full Missouri Valley Conference schedule:
Dec. 1 vs. Missouri State (Redbird Arena)
Jan. 2 at Valparaiso (Athletics-Recreation Center)
Jan. 5 vs. Loyola Chicago (Redbird Arena)
Jan. 8 at Evansville (The Ford Center)
Jam. 12 at Drake (Knapp Center)
Jan. 16 vs. Bradley (Redbird Arena)
Jan. 19 at Missouri State (Hammons Student Center)
Jan. 23 vs. Evansville (Redbird Arena)
Jan. 26 vs Drake (Redbird Arena)
Jan. 29 at UNI (McLeod Center)
Feb. 2 at Loyola Chicago (Gentile Arena)
Feb. 5 vs Southern Illinois (Redbird Arena)
Feb. 9 vs Valparaiso (Redbird Arena)
Feb. 12 at Indiana State (Hulman Center)
Feb. 16 vs UNI (Redbird Arena)
Feb. 19 at Bradley (Carver Arena)
Feb. 22 at Southern Illinois (Banterra Center)
Feb. 26 vs Indiana State (Redbird Arena)