Illinois won in overtime but fouls were called every few seconds. The point guard on Illinois would drive me crazy if I was his coach. He made a few beautiful plays with bounce passes but he drove into the paint about 4 times and lost the ball or made a horrible decision. Illinois hardly let Cockburn touch the ball in OT until the last few seconds. Indiana also went away from their star, Davis in OT as well. Dsumyo shot 2-11 and fouled out. He was way off his game tonight missing many layups throughout the game. i think it keeps us ahead of Indiana as they are now 4-6 in league. Maybe Illinois was looking ahead. I think they have too much talent to have several losses. Two of their players were picked among the top 10 players in the country before the season.
Illinois-Indiana went overtime
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That was a great result for us. A win over Minnesota would make it very hard for Indiana, Minnesota, Penn State, or Maryland to catch us in the standings. Indiana would have the best chance at 4-6 with a remaining game against us, the others would all be 4-7 or worse.
Illinois is a team that is hard to figure out. They have so much talent, and yet they struggle at times. Should not only be B1G contenders but national title condensers with their talent.
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They have a few NBA players but they also play NBA style ball at times. They should take a page from our book and play D, rebound and get it inside more to the Big man. Especially against Indiana who is small, fast and athletic. I only watched a little early on and Indiana was clearly outplaying them.
I disagree, Indiana is perennially overrated. They have a collection of players who are no better or worse than most other mid level Big Ten teams. Jackson Davis will be a better pro than college player, but other than that who is showing signs of being great on their team?
Does the Illinois coach & staff carry any of the blame for their underperformance? The TV announcers love the head coach.
Curbelo had one turnover. He is going to be a great player. Best passer at Illinois in my time as a fan. Doesn’t play 20 minutes a game yet but is second in the BT in assists.
Indiana is mediocrity, a bunch of overrated players with a coach that just does not have the answers. I imagine their board is in full meltdown over the inability to get over the hump. Being Iowa was nice but then losing home games to RU and Illinois basically sum up the Miller era
Ironically, Illinois’ resume is really nothing special. Keep in mind they’ve only played 4 conference road games so far and got by far the easiest BIG draw (NW and Nebraska on the schedule twice) and only have to play most of the better teams in the conference once.
I agree. On the one hand I was rooting for Indiana because I just don't like Illinois. But, I knew if Indiana lost that would really help us in the B1G standings. Now, is equally important that we beat Minnesota tomorrow night.
Illinois got the easiest draw? Have you looked at Purdue or Michigan's schedule?
Illinois SOS is #3 on kenpom and still have games @ Michigan, Wisconsin (2) and @ Ohio St. & @ Minny.
He's really good. Game changed at RU when he got into foul trouble (at least 1 call was not so great). I don't think he'll ever be the kind of guy who you dread playing but will get the same results as a guy you dread playing, if that makes any sense.
Illini have two great players, but also some youth and inconsistency in the supporting cast. Underwood has picked up their recruiting, but so far I'm underwhelmed by him as a bench coach. I'll be interested in seeing how they close this year and what they do further into the Underwood tenure.
What does their Kempom rating have to do with it? Obviously there are no “easy” BIG draws. But home and homes vs NW and Nebraska (easily the worst 2 teams) - with only one game against Michigan and Iowa (the 2 top teams in the standings) is the definition of an easier relative overall draw. Isn’t it?
yeah nothing special but they are in 2nd place at 8-3
5 Quadrant 1 wins and 9 wins total in Q1 and 2
I guess where I’m coming from - I only see 2 sure at large teams on that list of 9 Q1 and Q2 wins. Same number actually as RU (Iowa and Purdue). The quadrant stats are very important for making the field, but for a team vying for a 2 seed they are going to have to win some marquis games against Kempom top 12ish teams - mostly on the road. With that said, I’m sure the Illini are rooting for Minn to take us down tonight to bring Minn closer to lock status.
Knowing how freshman play in March Madness for the most part over the decades, Illinois could be an earlier exit, they rely on 2 freshman in top 5 scorers(40%), and the same with Purdue, 4 freshman of top 7 scorers(57.1%). I would trust other B1G teams like Michigan 1/8 scorers(Dickenson), Iowa 2/8(coach kid, NBA kid), OSU 1/9(Zed Key), Wisconsin 1/8(Jonathan Davis), and Rutgers 1/8(Cliff), even Minnesota 1/8(Mashburn Jr.), Indiana 0/top 6(7th,8th, Fr.), and Maryland 0/top 7(8th Fr.) don't rely on freshman scoring as much as Illinois or Purdue.
Ayo Frazer and Cockburn provide the leadership there. They are a tough out. Not sure why they arent getting respected
They will be in every game. With a net now in top 5 they will be a top 4 seed..
Rutgers could be an easy out too..absolutely no tourney experience
There is an angle for everything
They will be in every game. With a net now in top 5 they will be a top 4 seed..
Rutgers could be an easy out too..absolutely no tourney experience
There is an angle for everything
Yeah that’s why I said at times. They have a few guys who don’t play very good D. They beat us in a shootout 2 years ago and I was surprised how little D they played. In the first half against Indiana they were playing mediocre D and turning the ball over. Much like us in our 5 game losing streak. They are definitely a Top notch team if they take care of the ball and do the little things on D.
SOS = "draw"
That wasn't the "rating" on kenpom I referenced but the SOS = strength of schedule.
You were talking about the Illinois "resume" so you have to include the fact that Illinois played Baylor, Mizzou and Duke away from home in addition to all these Big Ten games. Granted Duke is not their usual quality, but those 3 games are better than just about anyone's non-con schedule.
I do think Illinois got an easier B1G schedule than say, Wisconsin. But Michigan and Purdue's are easier. No one in the B1G has an "easy" conference schedule though. And again, Illinois' overall schedule is one of the toughest in the country.