The 2014–15 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represented

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...

during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by third-year head coach Dan Muller, played their home games at Redbird Arena in

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal cities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and is I ...

as a member of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

. They finished the season 22–13, 11–7 in conference play, to finish in a tie for third place. As the number four seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

in a quarterfinal game and eighth ranked

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

in a semifinal game before succumbing to eleventh ranked

Northern Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the final. They received an at-large bid to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

where they won over Green Bay in the first round before losing to Old Dominion in the second round. On April 7, following the conclusion of the NCAA tournament title game, deputy director of athletics Aaron Leetch and men's basketball associate head coach Torrey Ward were among seven people who perished during an airplane crash of a twin-engine

Cessna 414 The Cessna 414 is an American light, pressurized, twin-engine transport aircraft built by Cessna. It first flew in 1968 and an improved variant was introduced from 1978 as the 414A Chancellor. Design and development The pressurized 414 was dev ...

in a soybean field on the eastern outskirts of

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. The flight, which originated from an

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

airport, was en route to

Central Illinois Regional Airport Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington–Normal is a public airport in McLean County, Illinois, three miles east of Bloomington and southeast of Normal. Owned by the Bloomington–Normal Airport Authority, it is also known as Centra ...

Previous season

The Redbirds finished the 2013–14 season 18–16, 9–9 in conference play, to finish in a tie for fourth place. For the Missouri Valley tournament they were the number five seed and were defeated by Missouri State in a quarterfinal game. They accepted an invitation to the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

where they were victorious over Morehead State in the first round and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in the quarterfinal round before losing to

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

in the semifinal round.

Offseason

Departures

Arrivals

Transfers

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition Season , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Missouri Valley Conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, State Farm
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament , - , - !colspan=9 style=, National Invitation Tournament , - , - Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2014-15 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball seasons Illinois State

Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball The Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represents Illinois State University, located in Normal, Illinois, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They are currently led by head coach Ryan Pedon and play their home games at CEFCU ...

Illinois State Redbirds The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level ( FCS in football). Most teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference except football (M ...