2014–15 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 2014–15 Illinois State Redbirds Basketball Illinois State Redbirds Wordmark.png 175 NIT second round Missouri Valley Conference 22–13 11–7 MVC Dan Muller 3rd Torrey Ward Luke Yaklich Dean Oliver Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena The 2014–15 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represented Illinois State University 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 as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. 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 in a quarterfinal game and eighth ranked Wichita State in a semifinal game before succumbing to eleventh ranked Northern Iowa in the final. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament 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 in a soybean field on the eastern outskirts of Bloomington, Illinois. The flight, which originated from an Indianapolis airport, was en route to Central Illinois Regional Airport. <ref name = "Illinois crash" > https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/07/illinois-indiana-plane-crash/25407061/ 2 Illinois State athletics officials killed in plane crash Madeline Buckley April 7, 2015 USA Today April 8, 2015 The Cessna 414 crashed just after midnight on Tuesday outside of Bloomington, Ill., the Federal Aviation Administration said. </ref> 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 where they were victorious over Morehead State in the first round and Texas A&M in the quarterfinal round before losing to Siena in the semifinal round. Offseason Departures Name # Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Comment Michael Middlebrooks 25 F 6'9" 210 Jr Seattle, WA Suspended;Redbirds suspend Middlebrooks http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/redbirds-suspend-middlebrooks/article_c1889b6e-56fc-11e3-ab04-0019bb2963f4.html Pantagraph November 26, 2013Adams State Jamaal Samuel 5 F 6'9" 200 RS So New Orleans, LA Louisiana–Monroe Nick Zeisloft 15 G 6'4" 185 RS So LaGrange, IL Indiana Kaza Keane 0 G 6'1" 185 So Ajax, Ontario Cleveland State Zach Lofton 23 G 6'4" 200 So Saint Paul, MN Minnesota Matt Stacho 31 G 6'1" 180 So Naperville, IL Left program Arrivals Transfers Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prior School DeVaughn Akoon–Purcell G 6'5" 185 Jr Orlando, FL Eastern Oklahoma State College Nick Banyard F 6'8" 205 Jr Flower Mound, TX New Mexico Justin McCloud G 6'4" 188 Jr Bottineau, ND Bismarck State College Will Ransom F 6'8" 235 Jr Green Lake, WI Daytona Beach Community College Mark Hall G 6'3" 170 RS So Round Lake Beach, IL Eastern Wyoming College Roster y Illinois State Redbirds 2014 yes F 0 y Nick Banyard I 6 8 205 jr Edwards Marcus High SchoolNew Mexico Flower Mound, TX G 1 y Paris Lee 5 11 175 so Proviso East High School Maywood, IL G 3 Daishon Knight 6 1 175 sr Lake Clifton Eastern High SchoolOdessa College Baltimore, MD G 4 Bobby Hunter 5 10 194 sr y Bishop Manogue High SchoolSanta Fe College Reno, NV G 5 Mark Hall 6 3 170 so y Grayslake North High SchoolEastern Wyoming College Round Lake Beach, IL C 10 John Jones 6 9 260 sr The Howe School Saint Michael, Barbados F 11 y MiKyle McIntosh 6 7 237 fr y 22 Feet Academy Pickering, ON G 12 Tony Wills 6 3 180 so Ben Davis High School Indianapolis, IN G 15 Justin McCloud 6 4 188 jr Bottineau High SchoolBismarck State College Bottineau, ND C 22 y Reggie Lynch 6 10 255 so Edina High School Edina, MN F 24 Deontae Hawkins 6 8 225 fr y Dunbar High School Dayton, OH F 42 Will Ransom 6 8 240 jr North Crowley High SchoolDaytona State College Fort Worth, TX G 44 y DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell 6 5 185 jr West Oaks AcademyEastern Oklahoma State College Orlando, FL Dan Muller (Illinois State) Torrey Ward (University of Alabama at Birmingham Alabama–Birmingham) Luke Yaklich (Illinois State) Dean Oliver (Iowa) https://goredbirds.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2014-15 March 24, 2015 Schedule and results yes yes |- !colspan=9 style=Illinois State Redbirds|Exhibition Season November 10, 2014 yes 7:00 pm Lewis 76–67 Lee 14 Lynch 12 Knight 5 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,063 Normal, IL |- !colspan=9 style=Illinois State Redbirds|Non-conference regular season November 16, 2014 yes 4:00 pm Utah State 55–60 0–1 Knight 17 Akoon–Purcell 10 Lee 5 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,921 Normal, IL November 21, 2014 yes 8:00 pm yes Weber State U. S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam[Quarterfinal] 73–64 1–1 Akoon–Purcell 20 Akoon–Purcell 7 Hunter 3 Sports and Fitness Center 1,910 St. Thomas, USVI November 23, 2014 yes 8:00 pm CBSSN yes Old Dominion U. S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam[Semifinal] 64–45 2–1 Hunter,Akoon–Purcell 12 Knight 8 Knight 5 Sports and Fitness Center 2,005 St. Thomas, USVI November 24, 2014 yes 8:00 pm CBSSN yes Seton Hall U. S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam[Final] 80–84 2–2 Hunter 23 Jones 7 Knight 6 Sports and Fitness Center 2,955 St. Thomas, USVI November 29, 2014 yes 2:00 pm Youngstown State 85–73 OT 3–2 Hunter 20 Hawkins 15 Lee 4 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,095 Normal, IL December 2, 2014 yes 7:00 pm CSN Chicago Plus VCU 62–66 3–3 Akoon–Purcell 18 Akoon–Purcell 7 Lee 4 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 7,142 Normal, IL December 7, 2014 yes 2:00 pm CSN Chicago yes UAB 78–73 4–3 McIntosh 18 Lynch 9 Lee 6 Bartow Arena 2,234 Birmingham, AL December 14, 2014 yes 3:00 pm FS1 yes DePaul 78–72 5–3 Knight 25 Lynch 13 Lee 3 Allstate Arena 6,323 Rosemont, IL December 17, 2014 yes 7:00 pm UT Martin 64–54 6–3 Knight 18 McIntosh 9 Knight 5 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,037 Normal, IL December 20, 2014 yes 3:00 pm yes Murray State 77–89 6–4 Knight 26 Jones 8 Lee 3 CFSB Center 2,979 Murray, KY December 22, 2014 yes 6:00 pm IPFW 68–43 7–4 Knight 12 Wills 8 Knight,Lee 3 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,108 Normal, IL December 29, 2014 yes 6:00 pm Quincy 99–57 8–4 McCloud 18 Jones,McIntosh 7 Lee 9 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,093 Normal, IL |- !colspan=9 style=Illinois State Redbirds|Missouri Valley Conference regular season December 31, 2014 3:00 pm CSN Chicago Indiana State 61–63 8–5 0–1 Wills 16 Ransom 6 Wills 3 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 5,372 Normal, IL January 4, 2015 4:30 pm ESPNU yes 16 Wichita State 62–70 8–6 0–2 Knight 24 McIntosh 7 Hunter 3 Charles Koch Arena 10,506 Wichita, KS January 7, 2015 7:00 pm ESPN3 Drake 81–45 9–6 2–1 Knight 15 McIntosh 9 Wills 6 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 3,809 Normal, IL January 11, 2015 2:00 pm ESPN3 yes Missouri State 69–55 10–6 2–2 Hunter 17 Lynch 7 Lee 5 JQH Arena 5,224 Springfield, MO January 14, 2015 6:00 pm yes Indiana State 70–71 OT 10–7 2–3 Knight 21 Lynch 8 Lee 4 Hulman Center 4,335 Terre Haute, IN January 17, 2015 4:00 pm CSN Chicago Bradley I–74 Rivalry 82–72 11–7 3–3 Knight 20 Hunter,McIntosh 5 Hunter,Lee 5 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 9,627 Normal, IL January 20, 2015 7:00 pm yes Drake 64–56 12–7 4–3 Knight 20 Lynch 9 Wills 3 The Knapp Center 2,886 Des Moines, IA January 25, 2015 3:00 pm ESPNU 20 Northern Iowa 53–54 12–8 4–4 Hunter 13 Akoon–Purcell 7 Wills 3 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 6,118 Normal, IL January 28, 2015 7:00 pm ESPN3 Missouri State 67–57 13–8 5–4 Akoon–Purcell 20 Akoon–Purcell 12 Lee 6 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,177 Normal, IL January 31, 2015 1:00 pm MVC Network(CSN Chicago/FSMW) yes Loyola–Chicago 48–45 14–8 6–4 Hawkins 11 Jones,Hawkins 5 Hunter,Knight 2 Joseph J. Gentile Arena 3,256 Chicago, IL February 3, 2015 7:00 pm ESPN3 Evansville 77–51 15–8 7–4 Lynch 16 Akoon–Purcell 6 Lee 7 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,352 Normal, IL February 7, 2015 1:00 pm MVC Network yes Southern Illinois 59–65 15–9 7–5 Akoon–Purcell 19 Lynch,Hawkins 8 Lee 6 SIU Arena 4,885 Carbondale, IL February 11, 2015 7:00 pm ESPN3 yes 13 Northern Iowa 64–83 15–10 7–6 Knight 16 Hawkins 11 Wills 3 McLeod Center 6,103 Cedar Falls, IA February 14, 2015 5:00 pm ESPN2 15 Wichita State 62–68 15–11 7–7 Akoon–Purcell 18 Lynch 8 Knight 7 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 9,345 Normal, IL February 18, 2015 8:00 pm MVC Network yes Bradley I–74 Rivalry 60–47 16–11 8–7 Knight 15 Hawkins 9 Knight,Hawkins 3 Carver Arena 7,349 Peoria, IL February 21, 2015 7:00 pm CSN Chicago Loyola–Chicago 67–60 17–11 9–7 Knight 21 McIntosh 8 Knight,Lee 2 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 6,406 Normal, IL February 25, 2015 7:00 pm ESPN3 Southern Illinois 73–56 18–11 10–7 Akoon–Purcell 24 Akoon–Purcell 7 Lee 5 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 5,188 Normal, IL February 28, 2015 1:00 pm yes Evansville 69–67 OT 19–11 11–7 Akoon–Purcell 16 Jones,Akoon–Purcell 9 Akoon–Purcell,McCloud,Lee 3 Ford Center 5,491 Evansville, IN |- !colspan=9 style=Illinois State Redbirds|State FarmMissouri Valley Conference {MVC} Tournament |- March 6, 2015 yes 2:30 pm MVC Network 4 yes 5 Evansville Arch Madness[Quarterfinal] 71–67 20–11 Hawkins 17 Hawkins 7 Lee 4 Scottrade Center 9,015 St. Louis, MO March 7, 2015 yes 1:30 pm MVC Network 4 yes 1 8 Wichita State Arch Madness[Semifinal] 65–62 21–11 Knight 25 Lynch 7 Lee 3 Scottrade Center 13,898 St. Louis, MO March 8, 2015 yes 1:00 pm CBS 4 yes 2 11 Northern Iowa Arch Madness[Final] 60–69 21–12 Knight 16 Knight 6 Knight,Lee 4 Scottrade Center 13,552 St. Louis, MO |- !colspan=9 style=Illinois State Redbirds|National Invitation {NIT} Tournament |- March 18, 2015 yes 7:00 pm ESPNU 4 5 Green Bay Old Dominion Regional[First Round] 69–56 22–12 Lee 18 Hawkins 9 Lee 6 Doug Collins Courtat Redbird Arena 4,942 Normal, IL March 23, 2015 yes 7:00 pm ESPNU 4 yes 1 Old Dominion Old Dominion Regional[Second Round] 49–50 22–13 Knight 14 Akoon–Purcell 8 Akoon–Purcell 3 Ted Constant Convocation Center 5,923 Norfolk, VA |- AP Poll Central Time Sourcehttps://goredbirds.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/2014–15 2014–15 Men's Basketball Schedule GoRedbirds.com March 24, 2015 en References Category:Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball seasons Illinois State Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball Illinois State Redbirds