ISU ready for first trip to NIT Final Four
· Yahoo Sports
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The Illinois State Redbirds are in uncharted waters.
They ae playing in their first NIT Final Four this week. The Redbirds (23-12) are set to play Auburn (20-16) in the NIT semifinals in Thursday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
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ISU beat Kent State at home in its first game of the 2026 NIT. Then won at Wake Forest and Dayton to earn this trip to Indy.
“It’s a really cool opportunity. Obviously, those schools have bigger, stronger, faster guys. But we really believe we can play with anyone as long as we play our brand of basketball and play as hard as we can,” said ISU junior Ty Pence.
ISU will play an April basketball game for just the second time in school history, the first coming in 1899. ISU has never played Auburn.
But the [layers are cherishing an opportunity to play a school from the SEC that was considered a “bubble team” to make the NCAA Tournament.
Chase Walker/ISU junior: “In all honesty, we are testing our skills,” said junior center Chase Walker of ISU matching up with schools form big conferences. “It’s a step up in competition. Like Ty said, it’s bigger, stronger, faster athletes. To test where we are at, is a big thing.”
Thursday’s NIT semifinal is set to tip at 8:30 CDT.
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