The 2023–24 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team represented

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

during the

2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with th ...

. The Sycamores, led by third-year head coach

Josh Schertz Josh Schertz is an American basketball coach who is the currently the head coach at Saint Louis University. Coaching career Schertz's coaching career began as a student assistant with Florida Atlantic for the 1999–2000 season. He then moved ...

, played their home games at the

Hulman Center The Hulman Center is a 9,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

as members 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 ...

(MVC). The team finished the season 32–7, 17–3 in MVC play to win the regular-season championship. They defeated Missouri State and

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 ...

before losing to

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

in the MVC tournament championship game. They received a 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 ...

as a No. 1 seed. They defeated SMU,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

to advance to the NIT championship game. There they lost to

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

. On February 12, 2024, the Sycamores were ranked in the AP poll for the first time since the 1978–79 season. Consecutive losses to Illinois State 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 ...

right after they were ranked took them out of the poll after just one week. On March 17, in a move that drew criticism, Indiana State was omitted from the NCAA tournament by the selection committee, instead receiving a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Sycamores were the highest

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-ranked team (at 28 nationally) to miss the NCAA tournament. On April 6, head coach Josh Schertz left the school to become the head coach at Saint Louis. On April 11, the school named associate head coach

Matthew Graves Matthew Graves (born November 9, 1974) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach at Indiana State University. He was previously the head coach at the University of South Alabama. Graves grew up p ...

the team's new head coach.

Previous season

The Sycamores finished the 2022–23 season 23–13, 13–7 in MVC play, to finish in fifth place. 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 the opening round of the MVC tournament and Belmont in the quarterfinals, before losing to top-seeded Bradley in the semifinals. They received an invitation to play in the CBI, where they defeated

USC Upstate The University of South Carolina Upstate (USC Upstate) is a public university in Valley Falls, South Carolina, United States. It has a Spartanburg postal address. Founded in 1967 and formerly known as University of South Carolina Spartanburg, ...

in the first round, before falling to eventual tournament runner-up

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

in overtime in the quarterfinals.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, MVC tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NIT , - Sources:

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball seasons Indiana State Indiana State

Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball Indiana State Sycamores basketball is the NCAA Division I men's college basketball, basketball program of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. They currently compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The team last played in the NCAA ...