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It was a complete annihilation of a basketball game the moment Illinois and USC tipped off. Illinois started the game on an 8-0 run with two Jake Davis corner threes, and Illinois did not look back even for a tenth of a second. In game one of Illinois' west coast trip, the Illini overtook the Galen Center and destroyed USC 101-65. There was even a hypothetical "nuggets" chant aired out in the home of USC. Illinois fans travelled well and completely embarrassed a team who if t

Illinois begins their California trip with a desperate USC team trying to get on the right side of the bubble. USC enters 18-7 but lacks any true marquee win that stands out on their resume. They are 2-5 in quadrant 1 games, and one of those will constantly be teetering between quad 1 and quad 2 with Seton Hall being 50th in the NET currently. USC needs to pick up a true quality win, and time is running out as we approach March. It has not been the greatest season for Musselm

Early on Sunday morning, hours before Illinois was about to tip-off with Indiana, the Illini received excellent news. Senior guard Kylan Boswell was announced cleared to go and able see the floor for the first time in 7 games. While the news was great, there was one caveat to that. Wing Andrej Stojakovic was announced out as he is dealing with a high ankle sprain. Illinois is still looking to becoming whole once again, and the Illini might have to wait until after the Califor

Illinois and Indiana meet once again on Sunday, February 15th at 12:00 with the CBS production crew in town. Illinois has hit a speedbump in the last week. Having dropped two straight games, this is a good opportunity to bounce back before the damage keeps multiplying. Indiana went over their own speedbump in January. The Hoosiers come into this one winners in 5 of their last 6. Indiana is looking to get back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023. Year 1 of t

Following Illinois' loss to Michigan State in a game where the Illini could not buy a made field goal, Illinois got to come home for the entire week. The first test was against Wisconsin. The Badgers were always going to be nightmare matchup personnel wise. Nick Boyd and John Blackwell make up one of the best backcourt duos in the country, and without Kylan Boswell, it was going to be a tall task. To make matters worse, Andrej Stojakovic was announced as questionable before t

The Illini's 12-game winning streak was snapped in East Lansing on Saturday Night in overtime. In a frustrating game that just seemed like Illinois could not hit enough shots and grab rebounds, Illinois was able to stick around. That result is in the past and should be forgotten. Illinois now gets to come home for two games, with the first being against (16-7, 8-4) Wisconsin on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Wisconsin is coming off a frustrating road loss of their own, as their c

After 2 seasons as a defensive back coach and 3 seasons as the Illinois defensive coordinator, Aaron Henry and the Illini have parted ways. Henry has decided to take the Notre Dame defensive back/co-defensive coordinator position. After a historic season by the Illini secondary in 2022, Illinois promoted Henry to defensive coordinator following the departure of Ryan Walters. In Henry's first season as the defensive coordinator, the Illini defense struggled. It was a young gro

When Devon Witherspoon arrived at the University of Illinois in the summer of 2019, few outside Champaign knew his name. In fact, most recruiting services didn’t know him at all. He was listed as a zero-star recruit Witherspoon left Champaign as an All-American and 5th overall pick. Witherspoon's legacy is being a part of the dominant Illinois secondary in 2022 that produced 3 NFL Draft picks. But let's travel back in time to 2019. Rather than let the lack of stars discourage

It was another top 10 road matchup for Illinois. The Illini were looking for their 3rd straight weekend with a road victory against a top 10 team. Illinois met Michigan State. The Spartans came in on a two-game skid, and with their backs against the wall, were looking for a signature win to get back on schedule. That is what they did in an overtime thriller. Illinois dropped a game for the first time since the middle of December. The start of the game showed it was going to b

Another weekend has arrived, and Illinois has an opportunity to pick up yet another road win against a top 10 team. The Illini have done it the two previous weekends with their wins over Purdue and Nebraska. Once the Illini received news of Kylan Boswell's injury, fans thought winning just 1 of these 3 games was a tall order. Well, that's the beauty of college basketball. Illinois can go 3 for 3 and increase their Big Ten Title and 1 seed hopes immensely. Illinois and Michiga

After rattling off 11 straight wins, Illinois moved into the top 5 with all the national attention surrounding them. Illinois had yet another trap game placed in the middle of the week at home. Illinois picked up their 12th straight win in dominating fashion. Illinois' offensive explosion in the first half capped off by a Keaton Wagler buzzer beater from beyond half court was the exclamation point on how well this run and season is going for Illinois. It is starting to feel l

Illinois and Northwestern meet once again. The two met just three weeks ago with Illinois picking up the win 79-68. Welsh Ryan Arena became a house of horrors for Illinois over the last 3 years, but this Illinois team walked in and walked out with a relatively stress-free win. This one will be at the place Northwestern hasn't won since the building was still called Assembly Hall. Illinois will look to reach their 7th straight 20-win regular season with a Hail to the Orange Ou

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