Looking for something to do on campus this weekend? UIS was selected as the site for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Midwest Regional this weekend. UIS has worked in partnership with Visit Springfield and Missouri S&T to plan to host the eight-team event.

The competition begins Saturday at noon with Michigan Tech (23-7) vs. Northern Michigan (22-9) followed by Lake Superior State (27-8) vs. Lincoln (23-8).  The feature game will be played at 5 p.m.  with #1 seed Missouri S&T (24-5) hosting the Cinderella team from the Great Midwest Conference, Malone (16-15). Missouri-St. Louis (19-11) and Ferris State (25-8) will wrap up the day with a 7:30 p.m.  tipoff. 

Semifinal games will be played at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The championship contest will be played at 7 p.m. Tuesday. 

Missouri S&T head coach Bill Walker, who was the GLVC Coach of the Year, is a former Prairie Star head coach, coaching here from 2014-15 to 2018-19 (five seasons) before moving to his alma mater. Lincoln head coach Jimmy Drew is a Springfield native and Sacred Heart-Griffin graduate. 

The event will have a significant economic impact for Springfield due to the number of visitors and hotel room nights. 

Tickets are available online and are $6 per day. Seniors and students can purchase tickets for $5. UIS student IDs are not good for admission to NCAA championship events. 

The UIS baseball team is also playing at home this weekend, facing GLVC rival Indianapolis. First pitch is 1 p.m. Friday; noon Saturday for a doubleheader and noon Sunday. Admission to baseball is free. 

Mike

Mike Hermann

Director of Athletics

University of Illinois Springfield