SIUE posted a 1-1 record during the exhibition season, downing MacMurray, 94-64, but fell 78-76 in overtime to Illinois College. The Cougars lost their season opener, 96-69, at Illinois Friday night.
FIFTY WOULD BE NIFTY
A victory today would mark the 50th win for the Redbirds under head coach Tim Jankovich. The third-year ISU head coach will become the second fastest Redbird mentor to win 50 games. Only Gene Smithson did it quicker, with 50 wins in 64 games (1975-77).
49 IS ALSO FINE
Over the last two seasons, head coach Tim Jankovich has led the Redbirds to 49 wins and only 20 defeats. The 49 victories ties the school record for the most wins over a two-year period. The recent two-year streak equals the efforts of the 1996-97 (24-6) and 1997-98 (25-6) teams.
IN-SEASON MEDIA CONFERENCES
ISU Athletics Media Relations will host eight in-season media conferences during the 2009-10 season. Each conference will feature head coach Tim Jankovich and a member of the ISU basketball team. The media conferences will start at 1 p.m., and be held in the Redbird Arena Media Room, which is on the east side of the lower concourse. The remaining scheduled dates are: Dec. 3, Jan. 7, Jan. 21, Jan. 29, Feb. 8, Feb. 18 and March 2.
VALLEY TELECONFERENCES
Teleconferences with The Valley head coaches will be conducted each Tuesday throughout the season. The first teleconference is slated for Dec. 15, followed by every Tuesday from Jan. 5 to March 2. The conferences begin at 10 a.m. CT. To participate in the conference calls, call 913.981.4900. Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich will participate at 10:30 a.m.
FOR OPENERS
Since the 1981-82 season, Illinois State's first campaign in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Redbirds have won 17 of their past 28 season openers. In the 112-year history of the program, Illinois State has compiled a 74-37 all-time record in season-opening games. In the NCAA Division I-era (1970-present), the Redbirds are 24-15 in season-openers.
MORE OPENING NOTES
Head coach Tim Jankovich is looking for his third-straight victory in a season opener with the Redbirds. ISU won, 69-61, at Wright State last season, and defeated Missouri-St. Louis, 70-37, in Normal to open the 2007-08 season. The Redbirds have won five of their last six season openers.
DOWNING THE OVC
As of late, the Redbirds have been "naughty by nature" when facing members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Illinois State has won 20-straight games against members of the OVC, while head coach Tim Jankovich is 2-0 against the OVC while at ISU. Against the current members of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Redbirds own an 88-53 all-time record (.624).
HAVEN'T SEEN THIS SINCE THE 15¢ STAMP
The Redbirds and SIU Edwardsville haven't met on the hardwood since March 2, 1979. At the time of the previous meeting, a first-class postage stamp was 15 cents. Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States, but endured the Iran hostage crisis that year. Also in 1979, The Deer Hunter received the Academy Award for Best Picture, the Bee Gee's "Saturday Night Fever" was the album of the year and Michigan State defeated Indiana State, 75-64, to win the national championship.
TAKING IT TO THE STREETS
For the second-consecutive season, ISU will open its season with a true road game. The Redbirds opened last season at Wright State and will begin the 2009-10 campaign today at SIU Edwardsville. The last time ISU played back-to-back season openers which occurred on the opponents' home floor was during the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. In 1978-79, the Redbirds opened the season at Indiana State and suffered a 78-76 loss to Larry Bird and the Sycamores. In 1979-80, ISU was dealt another two-point loss, 63-61, at USC.
NON-CON NOTES
Head coach Tim Jankovich owns a 21-6 record (.778) against non-conference opponents during his time with the Redbirds, but is 4-3 on the road.
BEING THANKFUL FOR THE WINS
Over the first 111 years of Redbird basketball, Illinois State owns a 62-33 (.653) record in the month of November. The Redbirds have posed an 11-2 (.846) mark in the 11 month over the last two seasons under head coach Tim Jankovich. Illinois State will play six games this season in the month of November.
DEJA VU, ALL OVER AGAIN
Prior to this season, senior Osiris Eldridge was tabbed as the Missouri Valley Conference's Preseason Player of the Year and the Redbirds were predicted to finish third in the league's preseason poll. Before last year, Eldridge was named the conference's preseason player of the year and ISU was projected to finish third.
A RETURN TO POSTSEASON
Illinois State, which became an NCAA Division I program prior to the 1970-71 season, enjoyed postseason play for the 16th time last season. The Redbirds have qualified for the NCAA Tournament six times (1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997 and 1998) and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 10 times (1977, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008 and 2009).
BACK-TO-BACK TRIPS
After making the NIT each of the last two years, Illinois State posted successive postseason berths for the first time in over a decade. The last time the Redbirds had back-to-back postseason bids was during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, when ISU went to the NCAA Tournament each season.
THREECOLA!
The Redbirds finished the 2008-09 season with 297 made three-pointers, which set the school standard for treys in a season. The made threes topped the old mark, which was set during the 2007-08 season, as the Redbirds have made 552 three-pointers in head coach Tim Jankovich's two years at Illinois State.
O MY!
The play of Osiris Eldridge at the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament was spectacular and his final 21 minutes of action were nothing short of legendary. As a result, Eldridge became only the second player in league history to win the Valley's Most Outstanding Player Award from the tournament's runner-up team. Eldridge joined Rickey Jackson (1990), Rico Hill (1997) and Dan Muller (1998) as Redbirds to have won the league's MOP award.
THE MINUTEMAN
After logging three minutes into the 2009-10 season, senior Osiris Eldridge will become only the 12th Redbird in school history to play 3,000 career minutes. He enters the season with 2,997 minutes played.
A CLOSER LOOK
Sure, Illinois State had 10 defeats last season, but only one loss was by double-digits and it was a non-conference game. Of the 10 losses, eight occurred away from Redbird Arena and five were in overtime. In the combined losses, the Redbirds were defeated by a total of 48 points, and in the eight Valley losses, ISU was beaten by a total of 30 points.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
With a 24-10 overall record last year, Illinois State secured itself another winning season in men's basketball. In the 38 years of being an NCAA Division I program, the Redbirds have had 31 winning seasons.
300-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
When the Redbirds travel to SIU Edwardsville, Illinois State will enter that game with at least one made three in 300-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton Dec. 12, 1999.
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Senior Osiris Eldridge became the 39th addition to Illinois State's 1,000-point club, but with a full-season to be played now the question is how high will he climb. He enters the season with 1,325 career points, which ranks No. 17. His best single scoring season was his sophomore year when he finished with 554 points. In order to become the second Redbird to score 2,000 career points, Eldridge will need to 675 points this season, or 19.3 points per game.
RARE COMPANY
After being named the Valley's Preseason Player of the Year, junior Osiris Eldridge appears to have an inside track to join a select group. Eldridge won the conference's freshman of the year award in 2007. If he ends his Illinois State career with the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year Award, which he finished runner-up for last season, Eldridge would become only the second player in league history to win both the freshman of the year and player of the year award, joining Southern Illinois' Ashraf Amaya.
STATUE OF ASPIRATIONS
In September 2009, the Redbird Athletics Department unveiled a statue which honors the nation's first African-American NCAA Division I head basketball coach, Will Robinson, and his most famous player, Doug Collins, a three-time All-American at Illinois State. The piece, which was installed at the north entrance of Redbird Arena, was sculpted by Lou Cella, a 1985 graduate of ISU. Robinson was named the Redbirds' head coach Feb. 27, 1970, and posted a 78-51 seasons in five seasons. He passed away at the age of 96, April 28, 2008.
WHAT'S A UTE?
Illinois State will find out first hand this season, when the Redbirds travel to Utah, Dec. 19, for the first-ever meeting between the two schools, as part of the inaugural Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge Series. The game between ISU and Utah will be one of nine matchups between the two leagues.
TWO SIGN FOR 2010 CLASS
Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich announced the signing of two incoming players during the early signing period. The Redbirds added Kenyon Smith (guard, 6-0, 190) from Lincoln College and Jordan Threloff (center, 6-10, 240) from DeKalb High School. Smith originally signed with ISU out of Simeon High School, but was declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. If he receives his associate's degree this school year, Smith will have three years of eligibility remaining at Illinois State, while Threloff will enter ISU as a true freshman.
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