Bradley takes down Illinois State in Redbird Arena!

Redbird Arena - 2-16-2019 Bradley at Illinois State

The Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball outcomes have been absolutely unpredictable this season.  A few games back, Illinois State defeated Loyola to take the lead in the conference.  Last night they lost to a struggling Bradley team.  Actually, Bradley has been staging a bit of a comeback the last few seasons, albeit a slow one.  But, nothing seems to happen overnight with maybe the exception of the Loyola Rambler cinderella team last season...Devine Intervention?

The game has always been a rivalry, but in recent years it's been beat up.  This game, 9000 people filed in to the 'nest' to watch the game.  Some accounts say the contingent of Braves fans that travelled 40 miles from Peoria were more energized.  Maybe so, so much red in Redbird that I couldn't tell the fans apart by just looking up.  Still, the rivalry wasn't like it was in its heydays a dozen plus years ago when the thunderous crowds could have been heard halfway to Peoria... the years my ears would ring for days and I'd swear I'd wear hearing protection the next year.

Enough of my ramblings...  The Valley is truly up for grabs this season.  Arch Madness is going to have to sort it all out.  Here's to hoping the 'Birds are healthy and bring their best game.

a fairly small Photo Gallery!  Hope you enjoy looking!

Play4Kay at Redbird Arena

The annual Play4Kay women's basketball game at Redbird Arena this year was held on Sunday February 10 and featured the Indiana State Sycamores and the Illinois State Redbirds.  The normal faire of stationary bikes, treadmills, raffles, t-shirts, etc., helped to raise $20,000 for the Kay Foundations campaign against cancer.  For those that don't know, the foundation is named for famed women's college basketball coach Kay Yow.

A couple of pretty interesting things at this years game were the sneakers worn by Illinois State coach Kristen Gillespie.  The sneakers were a one of a kind pair that were commissioned by the foundation.  Several pairs of sneakers were made, and to my understanding were all different.  All the sneakers were given to different coaches across the country.  The pair worn by Coach Gillespie were auctioned off in a silent auction and transferred to the winner after the game.

The other item that was interesting was a result of the lighting upgrade over the past year.  The new LED lights that are aimed at the dome are color adjustable.  Normally patrons of the arena have seen them in Red.  During the "Pink" game, the lights were set to pink.  It's a really interesting feature and it will be interesting how they are used in the future.

Images from the game can be viewed here!  It's a small gallery, but more can be found by looking in the 2018-19 Illinois State Women's basketball gallery!  We hope you enjoy the views!

ISU regains momentum and comes back for win

The Illinois State Redbirds Men's Basketball team lead the University of Tennessee Martin Skyhawks most of the first half.  Seemed like everytime I looked up at the scoreboard it was 22-13.  The Skyhawks got to work and took the lead in the early part of the 2nd half.  Near the 11 minute left mark, the Redbirds began to stage a comeback and at the buzzer were back in the lead shooting down the Skyhawks 65-54.  Justin McCloud broke his game high record with 11 points, Reggie Lynch dropped in with 12.



20141217 UT Martin at Illinois State - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper

Bradley falls to ISU at Redbird

The 2nd half of the Bradley-ISU rivalry, dubbed for years now as the war on 74, was at Redbird Arena this season on the evening of Saturday February 15th. A little slower pace than some of the games we've seen this season.  The Redbirds scored first and pulled out to an almost 10 point lead before the Braves closed the gap in the first half.  The second half saw the Redbirds pull away and safely have the game tucked away with at least 2 minutes left to go.



20140215 Bradley at Illinois State - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper

Redbird Arena turns 25, Redbirds notch another win

On January 11, 2014 Redbird Arena turned 25.  The Redbirds won their first game in the arena on that very same night.  The results were the same 25 years later with the Redbirds defeating the most recent addition to the Missouri Valley Conference and the two teams first such meeting.  The Loyola Ramblers are led by Porter Moser.  Moser, many will remember was the Redbird coach before Tim Jankovich.  Jankovich left and Dan Muller is now in his second year.  Final score of this game - 59-50.


20140111 Loyola Ramblers at Illinois State Redbirds Men's basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

-Chimper -

Southern Illinois Salukis fall the Illinois State Redbirds

20140105 Southern Illinois at Illinois State men's basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

In the middle of a good old fashioned blizzard, Redbird Arena opened up for a Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game between the Southern Illinois Salukis and the Illinois State Redbirds.  The crowd was sparse.

The Redbirds led by as much as 18 points and ended up on top at the final buzzer 66-48.

An errant scoreboard caused several minutes delay.

LeRoy Lady Panthers take IHSA Class 1a 4th place hardware

Illini Bluffs Girls Basketball v Leroy Panthers Girls Basketball IHSA Consolation Game

It's always a heartbreaker for the players, coaches, families and communities to see their team make it to the IHSA State Basketball finals and not take 1st. Over time everyone realizes that they beat out a whole lot of people to even get that pass tag to Redbird Arena. It generally sets the tone to do even better the following year. In the end, everyone will have the memory of being one of the four best teams in the state for the rest of their lives.

Congrats and enjoy the lifetime memory to all 4 teams, but especially the LeRoy Panthers as they hail from just 15 miles down the road.


20120225 Illini Bluffs v LeRoy - Images by Alan Look