Irinotecan and Alisertib in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors or Colorectal Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: * Eligibility for dose escalation cohort: Histologically or cytologically confirmed metastatic or unresectable solid tumor for which standard curative or palliative measures do not exist or are no longer effective OR solid tumor for which irinotecan monotherapy is considered standard * Eligibility for the expansion cohort: Histologically or cytologically confirmed colon or rectal adenocarcinoma for which curative treatment does not exist; patients must have documented progression or intolerance to at least one prior regimen containing 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine and oxaliplatin * Zubrod (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group \[ECOG\]) performance status 0 - 2 * Patients may have measurable or non-measurable disease; x-rays and/or scans for disease assessment of measurable disease must have been completed within 28 days prior to registration; non-measurable disease must also be assessed within 28 days prior to registration * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1,500/mm3 * Platelet count \>= 100,000/mm3 * Total bilirubin within institutional normal limits * Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) =\< 1.5 times institutional upper limit of normal or =\< 5.0 times institutional upper limit of normal in the presence of liver metastases * Creatinine =\< 1.5 times institutional upper limit of normal OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 measured by 24-hour urine collection * Any number of prior chemotherapy regimens is allow…