Basketball

February is the month where the real contenders separate themselves from the rest of the country. On the first day of the month, we were treated to a matchup for the ages in Lincoln. #5 Nebraska and #9 Illinois met for the second time this season, and the road team came out victorious once again. Both teams entered this game 9-1 in league play and were looking to join Michigan at 10-1. The Big Ten Title race is going to be one of the best all time, and matchups like these go

We have a top 10 showdown tomorrow at 3 p.m. CST. #9 Illinois is in Lincoln to take on #5 Nebraska. The Cornhuskers beat Illinois back in December on a Jamarques Lawerence game winner. Illinois has not lost since that game. Nebraska started 20-0 but dropped their last game against Michigan despite a valiant road effort while missing two of their best players. Back on December 13th, we knew didn't know the full picture and how meaningful that game actually was in terms of the

Coming off the thrill of last weekend's historic road win in Mackey Arena, Illinois welcomed Washington into the State Farm Center. Many people thought this game was placed in the perfect trap spot. Through the 4 minutes it looked like Illinois was having an emotional letdown. Illinois trailed 7-0 before Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic broke the Illini's drought to make it an 8-7 game. From the 14:02 mark in the first half and on, Illinois never gave up the lead. Washington

We are only a couple of days away from turning the calendar to February, and with that, this means we are approaching the midway point of Big Ten play. Through 9 games, Illinois is 8-1 and has separated themselves along with three other teams in the race for a regular season title. Next up for Illinois is 11-9 (3-6) Washington. This game is a typical trap game. Illinois is coming off an impressive win at Mackey Arena behind Keaton Wagler's 46 points, and on Sunday, the Illini

When you look back on the date 1/24/26, you are going to remember it as the "Keaton Wagler day." In their second game without senior guard Kylan Boswell, the Illini faced their toughest test of the season in a road tilt with #4 Purdue. With the Boilermakers coming off a loss and having a Saturday Mackey Arena crowd to rally behind, it felt like Illinois was going to need a miracle to hand Purdue its second straight loss. That's when Keaton Wagler finally put the entire nation

We have a top 15 showdown on a Saturday afternoon in late January. It doesn't get much better than this. Conference season has been in full swing, and teams are starting to find themselves in the pecking order. Illinois and Purdue are both 7-1 in league play, and they do not want to fall two games behind 8-0 Nebraska. This is Illinois' biggest test in conference play thus far as not many teams walk out of Mackey Arena victorious. Missing Kylan Boswell, Illinois is trying to g

On Tuesday, January 20th, Illini Nation received the news that senior leader Kylan Boswell fractured a bone in his hand and would miss at least a month. This was devastating news on all accounts. Obviously for Kylan, who will miss a good chunk of his senior season, and for the team, who will miss their glue as they head into the most difficult stretch of the season with an abundance of quad 1 opportunities. Yesterday, Illinois took on Maryland, and no one really knew what to

Coming off their 7th consecutive win, #11 Illinois 15-3 (6-1) welcomes Maryland 8-10 (1-6) on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. This game is placed in the typical "look ahead" spot. Illinois heads to West Lafayette on Saturday to face a top 5 team in the nation, but they will have to get this one done first to enjoy it. Maryland has owned Illinois in the Brad Underwood era. The only way to express it is to state it bluntly. Illinois is 3-9 against Maryland in the Underwood era. It

11 a.m. home games in the Brad Underwood era have been surprisingly bad. Inferior teams always seem to bring their "A" game went visiting Champaign for some late morning hoops. The start of this one felt no different. Minnesota's Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hit two threes on their opening possessions and forced Brad Underwood to call a timeout not even two minutes into the game. The start gave me and many other Illini fans flashbacks to last year's USC loss at the same time withou

#13 Illinois is going for their 7th straight win as a frisky Minnesota team is in town for an 11 a.m. tip on Saturday. The Illini enter this one 14-3 (5-1), and the Gophers enter 10-7 (3-3). Illinois is coming off a solid road win against Northwestern, which will teeter between quads 1 and 2 status all year long. Minnesota is coming off gut-wrenching loss to Wisconsin at the buzzer, so they'll be looking to get back on track and move on. In his first year as the Minnesota he

Securing victories on the road in the Big Ten is always challenging, but the 2025-2026 Illinois Fighting Illini are making it seem effortless. With yesterday's win over Northwestern, Illinois moves to 14-3 (5-1) with a 4-0 record on the road. It is the first time Illinois has started 4-0 on the road in league play since the 2005 national runner-up team. That's some elite company to join. Like the '05 team, the Illini are trying to compete for a Big Ten title, and winning on t

Illinois basketball is almost back once again with a short turnaround, as Big Ten play is finally in full swing. The Illini are 13-3 and 4-1 in conference play as they head up I-57 North to face Northwestern. The Wildcats have had a disappointing season up to this point. They enter this one 8-8 and 0-5 in conference play. The frustrating part for Northwestern is that they have been competitive in all 8 losses. 7 of the 8 losses have been by single digits, and their lone doubl

After a successful 2-0 week, the Illinois Fighting Illini have moved up to number 13 in the week 10 AP Poll. The Illini have two games this week. Illinois makes the trip up i-57 North and are looking for their first win in Evanston since 2022 against Northwestern. That game will be on Wednesday night at 7:30. After that, a sneaky good Minnesota teams awaits the Illini in Champaign for an early tipoff on Saturday. I have always said that I want to be an AP Poll voter for both

13-3 (4-1) Illinois punched 12-4 (2-3) Iowa right in the mouth from the tip. A point of criticism during the Brad Underwood era has been the dreaded 11 a.m. tipoff, but this Illini team put that narrative to rest. Andrej Stojakovic hit an early three and then asserted dominance in the paint to help build an Illini 29-11 lead in the first half. The Hawkeyes rattled off a few threes to cut the Illini lead at half to 11, despite an awful half from Bennett Stirtz. Kylan Boswell p

Who needs the NFL Playoffs? #16 Illinois is in Iowa City for a top 20 showdown against Iowa for an 11 a.m. tip tomorrow. For Illinois, it is a chance to extend their win streak to 5 and really get rolling in conference play. For Iowa, it is a chance to pick up a coveted Quad 1 home win, an opportunity that does not present itself often. Last Games: 12-3 (3-1) Illinois is coming off a home win against Rutgers 81-55. 12-3 (2-2) Iowa is coming off a loss to Minnesota 70-67 at th

#16 Illinois hosted one of the weakest teams in the conference last night for a Thursday Night Big Ten matchup. Rutgers has experienced an extremely disappointing season, and the Illini contributed to it further last night with an 81-55 victory. After Rutgers hit a three on the first possession of the game, Illinois dominated from there on and used a 20-0 run over the final 8 minutes of the first half to put Rutgers out of their misery early. A strong defensive first half fro

#16 Illinois 11-3 (2-1) hosts Rutgers 8-7 (1-3) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CST at the State Farm Center. The game will be aired on the Big Ten Network. Illinois and Rutgers have had very different seasons up until this point. The Illini have taken care of all their games against inferior opponents, while adding some nice resume building wins along the way. Rutgers, on the other hand, have struggled all season. After beginning with a 4-0 record in buy games, the Scarlet Knights

The Illinois Fighting Illini resumed Big Ten play with a road test against Penn State on January 3rd. The Illini were selected in the Nittany Lions' annual game in the "Cathedral of College Basketball." This was not the first occasion the Illini encountered Penn State in a venue where they would play only a single game. If you recall, and I am sure many of you do, two seasons ago, the Illini played in Penn State's volleyball arena "Rec Hall." The then East Regional runner-up