# 2015–16 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by fourth-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 18–14, 12–6 in conference play, to finish in a tie for second place. As the number three seed in the MVC tournament, they were defeated by Indiana State in their quarterfinal game.

## Previous season

The Redbirds finished the 2014–15 season 22–13, 11–7 in conference play, to finish in a tie for third place. For the Missouri Valley tournament they were the number four seed, defeating 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.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | # | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Comment |
| Bobby Hunter | 4 | G | 5'10" | 194 | RS Sr | Reno, NV | Graduation |
| John Jones | 10 | C | 6'9" | 260 | Sr | Saint Michael, Barbados | Graduation |
| Daishon Knight | 3 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Sr | Baltimore, MD | Graduation |
| Will Ransom | 42 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Jr | Fort Worth, TX | North Carolina Central |
| Mark Hall | 5 | G | 6'3" | 170 | RS So | Round Lake Beach, IL | St. Cloud State |
| Reggie Lynch | 22 | C | 6'10" | 255 | So | Edina, MN | Minnesota |

### Arrivals
#### Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Prior School |
| Quentin Brewer | F | 6'8" | 220 | RS Sr | Tampa, FL | Bethune–Cookman |

#### Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Keyshawn Evans PG | Plantation, FL | The Sagemont School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Sep 14, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Roland Griffin SG | Aurora, IL | Aurora West High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jun 29, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Elvis Harvey PF | South Bay, FL | Oxford Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Apr 28, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Matt Hein PG | Orlando, FL | Windermere Preparatory School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 26, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Daouda Ndaiye C | Orlando, FL | Windermere Preparatory School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Aug 25, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 30, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition Season |||||||||
| November 8, 2015* 2:00 pm | | Southern Indiana | W 88–81 | | 25 – Akoon–Purcell | 14 – Banyard | 3 – Lee, Wills | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,022) Normal, IL |
| Non-Conference Regular Season |||||||||
| November 13, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at San Diego State Mountain West– Missouri Valley Challenge | L 60–71 | 0–1 | 13 – Griffin | 7 – McCloud | 7 – Lee | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| November 16, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Morehead State | W 67–66 | 1–1 | 23 – Akoon–Purcell | 4 – Akoon–Purcell, Banyard, Griffin | 7 – Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,698) Normal, IL |
| November 19, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | South Dakota State Cancún Challenge [Campus Site] | L 67–83 | 1–2 | 15 – Akoon–Purcell | 7 – Hawkins | 4 – McCloud | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,107) Normal, IL |
| November 21, 2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Houston Baptist Cancún Challenge [Campus Site] | W 72–56 | 2–2 | 20 – Akoon–Purcell | 6 – Hawkins | 5 – Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,100) Normal, IL |
| November 24, 2015* 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. No. 2 Maryland Cancún Challenge {Riviera Division} [Semifinal] | L 66–77 | 2–3 | 17 – McIntosh | 6 – Hawkins | 3 – Lee | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 25, 2015* 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. TCU Cancún Challenge {Riviera Division} [Third Place] | L 60–71 | 2–4 | 16 – Lee | 9 – McIntosh | 2 – Akoon–Purcell | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 27, 2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Quincy | W 73–63 | 3–4 | 18 – Akoon–Purcell | 7 – Wills, Hawkins | 5 – Akoon–Purcell, Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (3,853) Normal, IL |
| November 30, 2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 1 Kentucky | L 63–75 | 3–5 | 22 – Akoon–Purcell | 8 – Brewer | 2 – Akoon–Purcell, McIntosh | Rupp Arena (21,894) Lexington, KY |
| December 5, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UAB | L 61–74 | 3–6 | 18 – Akoon–Purcell | 8 – Akoon–Purcell | 4 – Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (5,093) Normal, IL |
| December 13, 2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Murray State | W 63–61 | 4–6 | 16 – Hawkins | 9 – Hawkins | 7 – Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,239) Normal, IL |
| December 16, 2015* 8:00 pm, CSNC+ | | at UIC | W 72–60 | 5–6 | 18 – Akoon–Purcell | 11 – McIntosh | 4 – Lee, McIntosh | UIC Pavilion (4,499) Chicago, IL |
| December 19, 2015* 1:00 pm, A-10 Digital Network | | at Saint Joseph's | L 65–79 | 5–7 | 16 – McIntosh | 7 – Akoon–Purcell, McIntosh | 4 – Lee | Hagan Arena (3,516) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 22, 2015* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Tennessee State | W 66–55 | 6–7 | 10 – Akoon–Purcell, Hawkins, Griffin | 11 – Banyard | 3 – Griffin | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,205) Normal, IL |
| Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season |||||||||
| December 30, 2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | W 74–61 | 7–7 (1–0) | 17 – Hawkins | 7 – McIntosh | 4 – McIntosh | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (5,680) Normal, IL |
| January 3, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | W 67–62 | 8–7 (2–0) | 28 – Akoon–Purcell | 9 – Akoon–Purcell | 2 – Banyard, Lee | The Knapp Center (2,803) Des Moines, IA |
| January 6, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 54–52 | 9–7 (3–0) | 14 – Akoon–Purcell | 8 – Brewer | 3 – McIntosh | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,106) Normal, IL |
| January 9, 2016 1:00 pm, CSNC/FSMW | | at Indiana State | L 65–77 | 9–8 (3–1) | 20 – McIntosh | 6 – Brewer, Lee | 5 – Lee | Hulman Center (3,801) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 12, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | L 78–81 | 9–9 (3–2) | 25 – McIntosh | 9 – Hawkins | 4 – Akoon–Purcell, Lee, Hawkins | SIU Arena (4,441) Carbondale, IL |
| January 15, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Evansville | L 55–65 | 9–10 (3–3) | 12 – Akoon–Purcell, Lee | 10 – Hawkins | 4 – Lee, Wills | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (5,148) Normal, IL |
| January 20, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley I–74 Rivalry | W 55–52 | 10–10 (4–3) | 16 – Lee | 15 – Hawkins | 4 – Lee, Wills | Carver Arena (7,300) Peoria, IL |
| January 23, 2016 3:00 pm, CSNC/FSMW | | Northern Iowa | W 76–67 | 11–10 (5–3) | 18 – McIntosh | 7 – Brewer | 6 – Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (7,103) Normal, IL |
| January 26, 2016 7:00 pm, CSNC+/FSMW | | Drake | W 76–64 | 12–10 (6–3) | 25 – McIntosh | 7 – McIntosh | 7 – Wills | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,182) Normal, IL |
| January 30, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | L 81–84 $^{OT}$ | 12–11 (6–4) | 18 – Akoon–Purcell | 9 – Akoon–Purcell | 6 – Lee | JQH Arena (3,546) Springfield, MO |
| February 3, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 78–70 | 13–11 (7–4) | 21 – McIntosh | 6 – McIntosh | 5 – Akoon–Purcell | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,691) Chicago, IL |
| February 6, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 21 Wichita State | W 58–53 | 14–11 (8–4) | 19 – Lee | 10 – Hawkins | 4 – Akoon–Purcell | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (8,284) Normal, IL |
| February 11, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Evansville | W 70–60 | 15–11 (9–4) | 18 – Banyard | 9 – Hawkins | 9 – Lee | Ford Center (4,195) Evansville, IN |
| February 14, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bradley I–74 Rivalry | W 75–60 | 16–22 (10–4) | 14 – McIntosh | 6 – Hawkins, McIntosh | 3 – Brewer, McIntosh | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (7,888) Normal, IL |
| February 17, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 78–50 | 17–11 (11–4) | 18 – Lee | 8 – Brewer, Hawkins | 5 – Wills | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (4,456) Normal, IL |
| February 20, 2016 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Northern Iowa | L 66–75 | 17–12 (11–5) | 14 – Lee | 6 – Brewer, Lee | 7 – Lee | McLeod Center (6,145) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 24, 2016 6:00 pm, CSNC+/FSMW | | Southern Illinois | W 73–50 | 18–12 (12–5) | 21 – Lee | 7 – Akoon–Purcell, Banyard, Hawkins | 4 – Lee | Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena (6,052) Normal, IL |
| February 27, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Wichita State | L 58–74 | 18–13 (12–6) | 15 – Akoon–Purcell | 7 – Hawkins | 4 – Akoon–Purcell | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| State Farm Missouri Valley Conference {MVC} tournament |||||||||
| March 3, 2016* 8:30 pm, CSNC/FSMW | (3) | vs. (6) Indiana State Quarterfinal | L 57–65 | 18–14 | 17 – McIntosh | 14 – Akoon–Purcell | 2 – Lee, Wills | Scottrade Center (8,468) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. |||||||||
Source