Illinois 58 Northwestern 43

That's the first time all season I've been impressed by an Illini win. Illinois, who always seems to freeze when confronted with zone, dismantled Northwestern, whose biggest weapon is zone. Illinois broke out the 17-3 lead by learning to find holes in the zone and dumping it down low early to free up outside shooters later on in the half. It was Pruitt and Carter getting easy buckets at first, then McBride and Fraizer (!) hitting wide open 3s to extend the lead.

Illinois also held off the big run of Northwestern in the first half, when the Wildcats narrowed the lead to three late in the first half. Shaun Pruitt hit two free throws (in a row!) and Rich his a three to put the Illini up eight going into halftime. After a slow start to the second half, Illinois put it away in the second half and cruised to the win.

Interesting game stats included Illinois' free throw percentage (71.4%), Shaun Pruit's rebound total (15 to NU's team total of 16) and Rich McBride's three pointers made (5 vs. NU's team total of 3). None of this was really surprising though, as NU honestly looked like it was one of my local high school teams. There was the small gym, the huge number of white guys playing with one token black player, not to mention the number of large white men in the stands.

So now the Illini have a short turn around before the biggest game so far this season at Indiana. That game will be a little different, as half the stadium won't be filled with Illini fans and I'm thinking some of the student section for Indiana is actually going to show up for the contest.

Let's just hope that Illinois can make another group of portly old white men sad.

Illini Defense Secures Win Over Wildcats (Daily Illini)

Illinois at Northwestern Pregamearama

The flu, injuries, little practice time.

Who's ready for a basketball game?! Illinois' players seem to be having the kind of week that would probably keep most students in their dorms/apartments/boxes and nowhere else. But unfortunately for the Illini, they have to travel to the north side of Chicago for an away match-up against the pesky zone defense of Northwestern.

Pruitt appears to have the flu bug and the rest of the team just seems to be worn out from the long stretch without a game night off. This might be a blessing in disguise, as the collapsing zone defense of Northwestern might have trouble with a smaller line-up seeing more minutes (Meach, Calvin and Jamar might see heavy minutes while giving Chester another night off).

Illinois has an astounding 122-34 record against Northwestern, with a 59-21 advantage in games played up north. Illinois is looking to improve a more important record tonight, their Big Ten conference record. With a win, Illinois would go above .500 in conference for the first time this season and possibly start to see the big dance on the horizon.

Big game is going to need some big scoring. Illinois has been holding teams to low scoring totals, and NU isn't a team that scores much to begin with. As long as Illinois gets some perimeter production, I think they'll pull this out.

Prediction

Illinois - 53

Northwestern - 48

Game Time - 6 p.m.
Television - ESPN2

Illini Must Overcome Flu, Zone Defense (Daily Illini)

Illinois Game Notes vs. Northwestern (Fighting Illini.com)

Illinois 59 Minnesota 49

This picture is good news for Illini fans everywhere. Not only is Jamar Smith showing some fight again, he's showing the healthy ankle to go with it. The microwave might be on his way back, after dropping in 13 on the strength of three 3-pointers in the Illini win. His stroke looked smooth once again, especially as the game progressed. At first it looked as though his shooting woes would continue, but he lit it up in the second half as part of the Illini run that changed a four point halftime lead to a 21 point lead with 10 minutes to go in the game. Rich McBride also contributed 13 on three 3-pointers, including a shot that looked closer to half court than to the three point line.

The first half wasn't the greatest for the Illini, down 20-18 at one point. If Minnesota would have hit their wide open three point attempts, the margin would have been much larger. But that is why Minnesota is at the bottom of the conference in scoring and near the bottom in the standings. Although I have got to give the Gophers credit, they fought back to get it into single digits late in the game and put a little scare in the Illini faithful. Not only that, but this Illini fan had horrible Vietnam-esque flashbacks to the Penn St. game last year.

Illinois now sits at 5-5 in the conference with six more games to play. The bad news is that 4 of those six games are on the road. The good news is that two of those games are Northwestern and Penn St., with the two home games bringing Northwestern (again) and Michigan into town. Doing some of Bruce's math, that would put Illinois into the NCAA tournament with 21 overall wins and 9 conference wins. Now, personally, I think it's going to take a win at either Indiana or Iowa as well as a semifinal appearance in the Big Ten Tournament to get Illinois to the Big Dance.

Then again, Bruce owns an orange blazer and I don't, that should tell you something about credibility.

Illini Gain Ground in Big Ten with Home Victory (Daily Illini)

Minnesota at Illinois Pregamearama

Illinois is calling Minnesota the new Penn St. This of course refers to the upset last year in Champaign where Illinois blew a huge lead to the Nittany Lions and lost a game that might have cost them the regular season championship and a top three seed in the NCAA tournament. This year's situation is a little different, as Illinois is struggling just to get to .500 in conference play. But the following stretch could put them on the right side of the bubble for the NCAA tournament. It all starts tomorrow against Minnesota.

The big keys in the game are going to be continuing to go inside and the driving ability of the guards. With Chester Fraizer finding a little bit of range with the mid-range jumper, Illinois gains another dimension that could help them all the way down the stretch and take the pressure off their outside shooters. But the inside game needs to remain excellent in the scoring column and the rebounding column.Last time out against the Gophers, Illinois used offensive rebounding in the first half to open up a huge lead that they were able to hang onto through the entire game.

Minnesota is coming off two straight conference victories against Penn St. and Northwestern. In their three conference wins this season, Minnesota has average 9.3 three pointers per game. Not bad for a team that ranks last in the Big Ten in offense. The Gophers will be attempting to snap a 16 game losing streak to the Illini. The Gophers are definitely playing with a little shot of energy after their two victories and will be dangerous coming into Champaign.

This time around, I think the Illini are ready for a team that comes in looking to knock them off at a critical point of the season. The Illini know that an NIT birth means all road games (NCAA Ruling on the Chief) so they better win the home games while they've got them.

Illinois - 65

Minnesota - 50

Game Time - 7 p.m.
Television - ESPN Full Court

Around the Big Ten

What other schools are saying about this weekend's match-ups in men's hoops:

Purdue at Penn St.

Purdue

From The Exponent - Purdue (3-5 Conference, 14-8 Overall) is still searching for its first road win of the season and they have an excellent chance to get it in State College this weekend against Penn St. The Boilermakers are looking to rebound from their first home loss of the year against Ohio St. on Tuesday. This game will obviously be very different, but still Coach Painter is worried about match-up problems with Penn St.'s Geary Claxton and Jamelle Conley. He wants to make sure his team keeps them off the glass, a problem they had in their last meeting in West Lafayette.

Penn St.

From The Daily Collegian - Penn St. (1-6 Conference, 10-10 Overall) is looking for a win, any win right now. They've lost six straight games to six different opponents, including fellow cellar dweller Minnesota last weekend. The skid has pretty much ruined the Nittany Lions' pre-season goal of making the NCAA tournament. Penn St.'s woes continue on both the defensive and offensive ends, with an average margin of defeat of 13.6 points during the losing streak.

Analysis: Can't defend, can't score, can't win. That's basically the long and the short of it.

Purdue - 78

Penn St. - 60

Game Time - 11:07 CT
Television - ESPN Full Court

Northwestern at Wisconsin

Northwestern

From The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern (1-7 Conference, 11-10 Overall) isn't looking good coming into this game. This is a young Northwestern squad that played them tough at home, but on the road it's going to be a different story. The Wildcats have not won a road game against a ranked opponent since January 6, 1999.

From The Badger Herald - Wisconsin (7-1 Conference, 21-2 Overall) is staying positive after their first Big Ten loss of the year. They're already planning their next 17 game winning streak (that would be 8 regular season, 3 Big Ten Tournament, 6 NCAA games) and I would have to agree they are poised to make that run. They struggled against the Wildcats zone early in Evanston, but were able to figure it out to win that game.

Analysis - The Badgers are going to handle the zone at home against the young Wildcats.

Penn St. - 48

Wisconsin - 70

Game Time - 1 p.m. CT
Television - ESPN Full Court

Indiana at Iowa

Indiana

From The Indiana Daily Student - Indiana (6-2 Conference, 16-5 Overall) has really put it together as of late. Except for a cold shooting night in Champaign, they've been red hot in nearly all facets of the game. One weakness is a possible over-reliance on the three as well as defensive breakdowns. But this is a team that doesn't give up and a coach that is known for his enthusiasm (on the court and with a cell phone).

Iowa

From The Daily Iowan - The Hawkeyes ( 4-4 Conference, 12-10 Overall) are coming off a big comeback win on the road at Michigan. Adam Huluska remains the league's leading scorer and is looking to lead his team to a huge conference victory at home. Iowa currently sits in a tie for fourth place in conference and is looking to prove itself as that possible fourth team to get a bid from the Big Ten.

Analysis: Iowa needs this victory on its home court, and quite honestly, the rampant homerism of the Indiana student paper annoys me. I'm looking for Iowa in an upset here.

Indiana - 62

Iowa - 67

Game Time - 1:05 CT
Television - ESPN

Ohio St. at Michigan St.

Ohio St.

From The Latern - Ohio St. (7-1 Conference, 19-3 Overall) became the first team to win at Purdue this season on Tuesday and with the Wisconsin loss found themselves in a tie atop the Big Ten standings. Now the Buckeyes get ready for the Spartans for the second weekend in a row. This time around they're hoping for the same ending result with a different second half. The Buckeyes watched a huge second half lead dwindle to two in the final seconds in Columbus, with Drew Neitzel going off to outscore the Buckeyes in the second half. Defense will be the key for Ohio St., as they are 1-3 this season when their opponent scores more than 70.

Michigan St.

From The State News - The Spartans (4-4 Conference, 17-6 Overall) are ready for some revenge at home against the Buckeyes. The team will be focusing on the boards where they hold a + 9.5 rebound margin on the season (third in the nation). The team is going to have to help out Drew Neitzel, who tried to do it on his own in the last four minutes of the game in Champaign. Look for Goran Suton and/or Marquise Gray to step up in the game for the Spartans if they are going to win.

Analysis - Oden is going to be dominate down-low, that's pretty much a given. It's all going to come down to the perimeter play of the two teams. I think Ohio St. will hold the edge there and pull it out.

Ohio St. - 76

Michigan St. - 63

Game Time - 3 CT
Television - CBS

Big Ten Scoreboard (Sports Illustrated)

Ladies Day in Illini Nation

Today's focus is the women's basketball team. Last time out, Illinois beat up Northwestern for the 16th straight time on their way to a 5-3 Big Ten record and 15-5 overall. Lori Bjork, the team's leading scorer finished the game with 16 points, 9 of which came from behind the three point arc. She now has a three pointer in 27 straight games and at least two three pointers in 20 straight games. This game was close midway through the first half. but Illinois pulled away with a 24-4 run to finish the half. The game was never really close after that. Illinois also dominated the boards, with the two leading rebounders for the Illini equaling the amount pulled down by the entire NU team. This wasn't surprising, seeing as the Illini are number one in the Big Ten in rebounding margin.

Tonight the Illini take on Michigan at Assembly Hall. Illinois already took down the Wolverines in Ann Arbor at the beginning of January. Since then, the Wolverines have gone 2-4 on their way to a 2-7 conference record (9-13 overall). Michigan has not won a Big Ten road game since January 22, 2004. This game will be big for Illinois, because after this two of their last five opponents are ranked in the top 25 (and Michigan St. is the AP no. 26). Illinois has not beaten a top 25 team this season and are solidly on the NCAA bubble. That victory will be even harder to gain because the games against Purdue and Michigan St. will be on the road. The only home game is against Ohio St. The Buckeyes will be tough, especially if Greg Oden suddenly discovers drag.

I wonder what his drag name would be...

Illinois Rolls Past Northwestern (Fighting Illini.com)

Women's Basketball Hopes to Sweep Michigan at Home (Daily Illini)

Illinois vs. Michigan St. Pregamearama

There will be no flag planting in Champaign tonight. That isn't a prediction, that's more about the physics of spiking a flag into the hardwood. Illinois comes in as the underdog, even in the friendly atmosphere of Assembly Hall. This is indicative of how this Illini team is playing right now.

The main key to the offense is to get it down low early and often to Pruitt and Carter. Illinois did that in the first half at Sparty and ended up with an 11 point lead. They went away from that in the second half and Michigan St. struck, let by Drew Neitzel.

And that will be the defensive key to the game: limiting Neitzel, especially in the second half. He put 20 on Ohio St. in the second half of that game in Columbus and nearly ended up bringing them back for the win.

Illinois hasn't lost both sides of a home/away series in Big Ten play since 1998-1999. Let's hope this doesn't start a new trend.

Illinois 61

Michigan St. 60

Illini Look to Avenge Early Season Loss (Daily Illini)

Purdue 64 Illinois PW3D

Yeah, it was that kind of day for the Illini. The Illini got down huge to begin the game when Purdue went on a 21-0 run and never really got close the rest of the way out. Whenever they put together a run, Purdue would answer. The biggest example of this is David Teague hitting a 30 foot bankshot in the second half as the shot clock expired. It was just a demoralizing loss all around.

The most embarrassing thing about the loss, and I hate to say this, was Chester Fraizer. That kid is a firecracker and everything I usually love about a player. He's hard nosed, he dives into the crowd and he reminds me of a shorter version of my all-time favorite Illini, Lucas Johnson. The problem is that Chester is a point guard and when opposing players leave him at the three point line like he's Dikembe Mutumbo (you know, without the hospital and school building), then there is a problem. A guard needs to be able to get the shot in the vicinity of the hoop when left that wide open from three. It's just the way the game is played. Chester needs to find the range or Illinois might have to substitute offense and defense (where that offense would come from is another very real problem).

I'd like to think this is like the 03-04 season and Illinois will go undefeated the rest of the way out and get to the top of the Big Ten standings. But this team doesn't have that kind of talent or that kind of confidence. I'll go ahead and say it: NIT, two games and out.

That's not to say I'm not going to stick around and watch all this. I love Illinois through good and bad. And this is definitely bad.

Boilermakers Dampen Illinois Tourney Hopes (DailyIllini)

Illinois at Purdue Pre-Gamearama

Illinois treads into Purdue looking for some sort of consistency and a little respect. Following their first win against a Top 25 team on Tuesday, most every piece of press credited the win to Indiana's poor shooting and some luck by Illinois to catch them on such a night. Saturday gives Illinois the opportunity to prove them wrong against a struggling Purdue team. A convincing win in West Lafayette could give the Illini the shot of positive press that they need.

This will be Illinois' only shot at the Boilermakers, so a win will be vital in their push to get into the top half of the conference. It will also be necessary to give Illinois an improved road record, where the Illini are 1-2 one month into the conference season.

Pruitt and Carter are going to need to come up big for the Illini in this one. Not only in the scoring column but also on the boards. Once Illinois establishes a presence inside, they'll be able to open it up on the wings and let Rich McBride continue his good shooting of the past few weeks.

This will be the first sell out game of the year at Mackey Arena, and Purdue is going to feed off that increased energy. They feel the key to their game is to match the intensity of the Illini. Coach Painter will probably be driving home the point to crash the glass against an Illini team that does not shoot well, but does crash the offensive glass.

In a game between former Saluki coaches, Weber has the upper hand.

Prediction

Illinois 58

Purdue 54

Illinois Seeks Important Road Win (DailyIllini)

Boilers Face Well-Rounded Illini Attack (The Exponent)

Illinois 51 Indiana 43

Well color me surprised. Down early, Illinois kicked up the defense and held the Hoosiers scoreless for nearly the last six minutes of the second half to pull out the game. The 20 free throw attempts to Indiana's 6 didn't hurt either. Granted, Illinois' anemic free throw shooting was present, but the 13 free throws they actually made might have been the difference. Another difference maker was Pruitt, who played on that sore left knee and dumped in 13 points for the Illini. Rich McBride also came up big, hitting big threes back to back in the second half on his way 15 points in the game.

Early it looked like Jamar Smith, finally back in the starting line-up, had found his stroke. He buried his first three point attempt, but missed the remaining four he took. This sophomore slump has been a painful one to watch, because I really wanted Jamar to continue to be successful. That quick release and stroke last year was amazing to watch. The ankle injury continues to be cited for his shooting woes, and I can somewhat understand that reasoning, but he just doesn't have any confidence in his shot this year. Illinois is going to need for that to change down the stretch, they can't score 51 every game and expect to win.

The other story line, aside from the important conference basketball game, started with that cold pre-game "shake" between Weber and Sampson. Personally, I thought it was great. I hope Weber does that to him at Indiana in a few weeks with a joy buzzer.

At least Kelvin still has fans at IU.

Illinois 51 - Indiana 43 (ESPN.com)

Man, those Indiana Kids Start Early (FireCoachSampson.com)

Illinois Sports Blogging, Take Two

(Photo from CBSSportsline.com)

I set up a blog with a similar name to this in November of last year, but for some reason blogspot decided that while my account existed, I couldn't edit the blog I created. I think we all know who to blame for this.

Kelvin Sampson.

So that's why, tonight, I will root against him as a person as opposed to the usual reason that I would root against him, he's not Bruce Weber. Other people seem to be against him as well...I wonder why...

In any case, tonight is going to be a rough one for the Illini faithful. Illinois has already lost three home games this season, the most since 1998-1999 and a fourth loss to Indiana of all teams would be a salt shaker full in the wound. And if all that weren't bad enough, there's news today that the team might have to do it without Pruitt, who injured his knee late in the Wisconsin game on Saturday.

Prediction

Indiana 68 Illinois 64

Indiana at Illinois (ESPN.com)

Change of heart: Coveted Gordon jilts Illinois for Indiana (CBSSportsline.com)