Ohio (0-1) will return to The Convo on Thursday to face off against another high-level mid-major school after the opening night loss against Arkansas State.
Illinois State will be the second team to travel to Athens this year, but this game will be the first of the Redbirds’ season.
The Redbirds are a very solid mid-major school, and they project to have a great year this year as they were picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference, as they return a huge chunk of their players.
With that being said, here is everything you need to know for Ohio’s second game of the season against Illinois State.
Game information
Opponent: Illinois State Redbirds
Location: The Convo
Time: Thursday at 7 p.m.
Where to watch: ESPN+
Follow live stats here.
Meet the opponent
Head coach
Ryan Pedon (4th season, 48-52 record)
Projected starters
No. 00, Jack Daugherty
No. 11, Johnny Kinzinger
No. 14, Boden Skunberg
No. 22, Ty Pence
No. 35, Chase Walker
Despite the loss for Ohio on opening night against Arkansas State, the Bobcats played a hard-fought game against one of the Sun Belt’s best teams. Forward Aidan Hadaway had a career high 28 points and he look to produce big again in the second game of the season.
The non-conference schedule is extremely tough for Ohio, and picking up a win over a great team in Illinois State will be very important, especially before the rest of the tough early schedule picks up where Ohio will travel to Louisville and Saint Mary’s.
Illinois State notes
Illinois State is highly regarded as one of the best mid-major programs in the country coming into the season and for good reason. The Redbirds had a solid season last year, going 22-14 overall and earning postseason play in the Purple College Basketball Invitational, a tournament that they ended up winning.
After the great success they had last year the Redbirds were able to retain a huge portion of their roster, something that has become rare in the new age of college basketball and college athletics in general.
Illinois State is returning 1,786 points from last year, the fifth highest total in all of Division I college basketball. Headlining the returning players for Illinois State is junior forward Chase Walker. The Columbus native had a great year last year, putting up 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, earning MVC 1st Team honors.
The other big piece back for Illinois State is junior guard Johnny Kinzinger. Both and him Walker made for a formidable duo, and they will be back this year.
Kinzinger earned 2nd Team MVC honors after putting up 14.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last year.
The team had two exhibition games before the regular season started, playing two in-state Big 10 teams in Illinois and Northwestern. The tough matchups proved to be tough as it lost to Illinois by a score of 92-65 and Northwestern by a score of 100-65.
