Illinois State seems to thrive in postseason tournaments. The reigning College Basketball Invitation tournament champions have now won six straight postseason games. Now they travel to Indianapolis and an National Invitation Tournament semifinal game with Auburn.
The Redbirds (23-12) have defeated Kent State, Wake Forest and Dayton to earn their trip to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Auburn (20-16) triumphed over South Alabama, Seattle and Nevada to create this Final Four clash.
Thursday night’s late game (8:30 pm) will be something of a contrast of styles. While Illinois State is defensive minded and a relatively deliberate in its attack the Tigers are faster paced and play with an offensive aggressiveness.
Ryan Pedon’s Redbirds play in the bottom third in terms of offensive pace, Steven Pearl’s Auburn squad is in the top third. While neither team is great at long distance shooting, the Redbirds are very adept at hindering their opponent’s three-point game.
Tigers from the SEC
Auburn is forty-second nationally in points per game (82.6 ppg) and Illinois State is thirty-seventh in points allowed (67.9). Seemingly each team’s strength, is the other team’s weakness. This clash will be about which team can expose their opponent’s areas of struggle.
The Tigers are the more athletic and taller of the two teams and they’ve endured much tougher competition throughout the season. Illinois State has proven they can prevail against supposedly superior competition. The proof is in their defeating teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Atlantic Ten Conference during this tournament and winning their three CBI tournament games last spring.