Illinois State and its fans are getting all too familiar with having the same feeling at about 3 p.m. on a Sunday in early March, after the final game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
It’s the feeling of dejection after coming so close to an NCAA Tournament bid but not being able to cash in. Of being the second-best team in a 10-team tourney, good enough to get to the final stage at Arch Madness, but not quite able to take the final step to end a still-growing NCAA Tournament drought that now stands at 20 years and counting. The Redbirds keep on getting to the doorstep, but so far just can’t find the right key to get in the door.
For the third time in four years, Illinois State is the runner-up at the MVC Tournament. This time it came as top-seeded Loyola Chicago took firm control in the second half and knocked out the third-seeded Redbirds 65-49 to cap the 2018 MVC tourney at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
After a grueling overtime win over Southern Illinois Saturday night-one keyed by an especially clutch performance by junior forward Phil Fayne with 26 points and nine rebounds-ISU never could conjure up the same level of play against the Ramblers, who snapped a long 33-year NCAA Tournament absence of their own. The Redbirds shot just 31.8%, including 5-for-25 from three-point range, and never found a flow, frequently getting caught up in an up-and-down game with a lot of quick shots but few of them going in.
Perhaps no stat summed up Illinois State’s struggle more than that the Birds pulled down 14 offensive rebounds but turned them into just two points. Fayne did finish with a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but his eight offensive rebounds turned into little against stifling, collapsing defense by Loyola.
“We probably missed seven layups in the first half,” said Redbirds head coach Dan Muller. “Not only that, but they had two transition threes out of those missed layups. I think when we missed those shots, we even got a little bit tighter.
“I thought we were going to play really well. I really did. Was Phil tired? I don’t know. He was one missing a lot of those, didn’t have some explosion. A little bit of nerves maybe, but I thought we guarded them well enough throughout the first half other than some transition baskets.
“I just thought we missed some opportunities, and if we make those, it open things up. We weren’t making those. The second half we missed a couple. We just couldn’t open up their defense. They were really, really good defensively today, though.”
The loss may be the capper on an up-and-down season for the Redbirds, one with some real quality wins, puzzling performances in losses, and a seemingly never-ending rash of injuries that left the team’s depth severely tested all year.
Illinois State was good enough to defeat a pair of SEC teams, including South Carolina in its home state plus Mississippi on the road. The Redbirds also won twice over what has turned out to be a pretty good Tulsa team, finished third in the mighty competitive MVC and even have a 5-1 record in overtime games.
On the other hand, ISU also was blown out in lopsided fashion too many times, including by Boise State, Nevada, Drake and Indiana State, and there also was a home loss to Charleston Southern. Injuries and occasional send-a-message discipline by Muller have been such that just one player-Juco transfer William Tinsley-played in every game. While the team had some of the best players in the MVC including Fayne, first-team all-conference talent Milik Yarbrough and sharpshooting guard Keyshawn Evans, an 18-15 overall record says much about Illinois State’s struggles for consistency all season.
As much as one may try to draw a line through the games when the Redbirds have come up just short three times in four years, it must be noted that each instance carried its own unique circumstances.
The 2015 team’s breakthrough included a signature semifinal win over top seed Wichita State, one that essentially signaled Illinois State’s arrival as a contender under Muller, then in his third year back at his alma mater. Just getting to the title game-and by beating the Shockers-was a major achievement, though the loss in the final to a nationally ranked Northern Iowa team stung in that the Redbirds were rolling for 20 minutes, leading by 14 at halftime.
Last year’s championship game loss to Wichita State was a disappointment for much the same reason as this year’s was, because the Redbirds did not play well. A year ago, that meant nowhere near the capability of a team that was 27-5 coming into the final and held the top seed in the tourney by virtue of tying for first place in regular season. The ache from that loss was doubled when ISU was snubbed from the NCAA Tournament (wrongly, we’d say).
This season, with a team replacing four starters and given all the trials Illinois State faced, finishing second at Arch Madness is a laudable achievement, especially to a Loyola team that proved in the regular season and again in the postseason to be clearly the league’s standard. The Redbirds also can take some comfort in that they didn’t have a single senior on this year’s team, and on paper everyone should be back for another run next year.
Of course, if there’s any team that knows that may not mean a lot in today’s college basketball, it’s Illinois State. This year’s team was on track to have two and possibly as many as three seniors, but three of the team’s top five scorers last year transferred. One can only hope this year’s group sticks together, because it sure would be fun to see what they can do if they max out.
“They’re all disappointing, certainly,” said Muller of the losses in the final. “I’m not thinking much about last year right now…we just didn’t play well, and that’s just-if you play one and you get beat, it’s a little bit easier to take.
“I told the team, I’m not quite as emotional this year because we don’t have seniors, it’s not like a career has ended today. Hopefully, we’re still playing this year, but I’m more just disappointed right now that we just-I couldn’t help them better to just play well today and see what happens.”
The Redbirds still have hopes of a possible NIT bid. Their overall record would indicate the chances are slim, but a strong power rating (around 80 in the RPI) and the quality of their wins might be enough to sneak into the field.
Even if ISU doesn’t make the NIT, though, even on Sunday already it was hard not to start thinking ahead to next season. Fayne talked after the game about Sunday being a learning experience for a young team, and Yarbrough made clear the team’s expectation next year, too.
“Yeah, we listened to the whole thing (trophy presentation after the game) while we were in the locker room,” he said, “and we just told each other that we’re not going to let this happen again next year. We’re going to come out, be prepared for anything that comes our way. We’re going to be back here next year.”
