# 2023–24 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team represented Indiana State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Sycamores, led by third-year head coach Josh Schertz, played their home games at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (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 before losing to Drake in the MVC tournament championship game. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 1 seed. They defeated SMU, Minnesota, Cincinnati and Utah to advance to the NIT championship game. There they lost to Seton Hall.
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 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 NET-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 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 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 in the first round, before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Eastern Kentucky in overtime in the quarterfinals.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Saint Mary-of-the-Woods | W 90–60 | 1–0 | Hulman Center (4,388) Terre Haute, IN |
| November 10, 2023* 8:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+ | | at No. 24 Alabama | L 80–102 | 1–1 | Coleman Coliseum (10,900) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| November 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | IUPUI | W 96–57 | 2–1 | Hulman Center (3,470) Terre Haute, IN |
| November 21, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Rice Ball Dawgs Classic | W 103–88 | 3–1 | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 22, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Pepperdine Ball Dawgs Classic | W 90–82 | 4–1 | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 24, 2023* 2:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Toledo Ball Dawgs Classic | W 76–74 | 5–1 | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 28, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Illinois | W 77–48 | 6–1 (1–0) | Hulman Center (4,009) Terre Haute, IN |
| December 2, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPNU/ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 85–77 | 7–1 (2–0) | Carver Arena (5,639) Peoria, IL |
| December 5, 2023* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | W 90–67 | 8–1 | Convocation Center (1,242) DeKalb, IL |
| December 9, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Indiana | W 98–54 | 9–1 | Hulman Center (4,369) Terre Haute, IN |
| December 16, 2023* 1:45 p.m., Peacock | | vs. Ball State Indy Classic | W 83–72 | 10–1 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (16,812) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 19, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tennessee State | W 90–69 | 11–1 | Hulman Center (4,291) Terre Haute, IN |
| December 30, 2023* 2:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Michigan State | L 75–87 | 11–2 | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| January 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 87–73 | 12–2 (3–0) | Hulman Center (4,457) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 7, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | W 77–66 | 13–2 (4–0) | McLeod Center (3,891) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 10, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 78–89 | 13–3 (4–1) | Knapp Center (4,069) Des Moines, IA |
| January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Belmont | W 94–64 | 14–3 (5–1) | Hulman Center (5,963) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri State | W 88–66 | 15–3 (6–1) | Hulman Center (4,803) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 21, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Murray State | W 72–63 | 16–3 (7–1) | CFSB Center (6,017) Murray, KY |
| January 24, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UIC | W 89–83 | 17–3 (8–1) | Credit Union 1 Arena (2,174) Chicago, IL |
| January 27, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | W 95–86 $^{OT}$ | 18–3 (9–1) | Hulman Center (8,223) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 31, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Belmont | W 78–72 | 19–3 (10–1) | Curb Event Center (2,263) Nashville, TN |
| February 3, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Drake | W 75–67 | 20–3 (11–1) | Hulman Center (8,332) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 101–61 | 21–3 (12–1) | Hulman Center (5,716) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 10, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | W 73–71 | 22–3 (13–1) | Great Southern Bank Arena (3,517) Springfield, MO |
| February 13, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | Illinois State | L 67–80 | 22–4 (13–2) | Hulman Center (5,988) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 17, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | at Southern Illinois | L 69–74 | 22–5 (13–3) | Banterra Center (6,019) Carbondale, IL |
| February 21, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | W 83–64 | 23–5 (14–3) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,428) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 24, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UIC | W 88–73 | 24–5 (15–3) | Hulman Center (8,061) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 28, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 85–67 | 25–5 (16–3) | Ford Center (6,419) Evansville, IN |
| March 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Murray State | W 89–77 | 26–5 (17–3) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, IN |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2024 1:00 p.m., MVC TV | (1) | vs. (9) Missouri State Quarterfinals | W 75–59 | 27–5 | Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO |
| March 9, 2024 3:30 p.m., CBSSN | (1) | vs. (4) Northern Iowa Semifinals | W 94–72 | 28–5 | Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO |
| March 10, 2024 2:00 p.m., CBS | (1) | vs. (2) Drake Championship | L 80–84 | 28–6 | Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO |
| NIT ||||||
| March 20, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) | SMU First round – Indiana State Bracket | W 101–92 | 29–6 | Hulman Center (6,421) Terre Haute, IN |
| March 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (1) | Minnesota Second round – Indiana State Bracket | W 76–64 | 30–6 | Hulman Center (8,239) Terre Haute, IN |
| March 26, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPN | (1) | (2) Cincinnati Quarterfinals – Indiana State Bracket | W 85–81 | 31–6 | Hulman Center (8,057) Terre Haute, IN |
| April 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN | (1) | vs. (2) Utah Semifinals | W 100–90 | 32–6 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,889) Indianapolis, IN |
| April 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN | (1) | vs. (1) Seton Hall Championship | L 77–79 | 32–7 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,100) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Sources:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 23 | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | RV |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV |