The 2017–18 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

2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2017. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season ended with the Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 2, 2018. Practices offici ...

. The Redbirds, led by sixth-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 18–15, 10–8 in conference play, to finish in a tie for the third place. As the number three seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Missouri State in their quarterfinal game and

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

in their semifinal game before being beaten by Loyola–Chicago in the final.

Previous season

The Redbrids finished the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men' ...

28–7, 17–1 in conference play, to finish in a tie for first place. As the number one 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 their quarterfinal game and

in their semifinal game before being beaten by

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 the final. Although not winning the conference tournament, the Redbirds held the tie-breaker for the regular season title and, as a result, received an automatic 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 ...

. They were awarded a number one seed where they defeated California–Irvine in their first-round game before losing to

Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

in their second-round game.

Offseason

Departures

Arrivals

Transfers

Recruiting Class

Preseason

In the conference's preseason poll, the Redbirds were picked to finish in fourth place in the MVC. Junior forward Phil Fayne was named to the preseason All-MVC second team.

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 , - , - Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball seasons

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 ...