Watch now: Illinois State might have better chance against UNI on the road in MVC Tournament opener

ST. LOUIS — Luckily for Illinois State's basketball team, the Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament isn't being held at Redbird Arena.

ISU went 1-8 in league games at home during this unique COVID-19 schedule of back-to-back weekend games on the way to its first last-place finish since 2004.

The No. 10-seeded Redbirds (7-17) try to erase that memory — and its two most recent home losses — when it faces seventh-seed Northern Iowa (9-15) at 8 p.m. Thursday in an MVC Tournament play-in game at Enterprise Center.

"I can tell you unequivocally we've played better on the road this year than at home," said ISU head coach Dan Muller, whose team was 3-6 in Valley road games.