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Pregame Guide and Prediction: #8 Illinois vs Indiana
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
Feb 14


Illinois upset at home, suffer consecutive overtime losses
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
Feb 11


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #8 Illinois vs Wisconsin
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
Feb 10


Illinois falls in overtime, ends 12 game winning streak
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
Feb 8


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #5 Illinois @ #10 Michigan State
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
Feb 7


Illinois eviscerates Northwestern, completes season sweep
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
Feb 5


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #5 Illinois vs Northwestern
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
Feb 4


Illini rob the bank, pick up second top 5 road win this season.
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
Feb 2


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #9 Illinois @ #5 Nebraska
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
Jan 31


Illini overcome slow start, move into 4-way tie in the B1G
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
Jan 30


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #9 Illinois vs 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
Jan 28


Freshman Sensation Leads Illini in Win Over #4 Purdue
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
Jan 25


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #11 Illinois @ #4 Purdue
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
Jan 23


Illinois dominates Maryland, picks up 8th straight victory
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
Jan 22


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #11 Illinois vs Maryland
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
Jan 20


Illini defeat Minnesota, pick up 7th straight win
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
Jan 19


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #13 Illinois vs Minnesota
#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
Jan 16


Illini defeat Northwestern, extend win streak to six
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
Jan 15


Pregame Guide and Prediction: #13 Illinois @ Northwestern
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
Jan 13


Illini move up to #13 in the Week 10 AP Poll
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
Jan 12
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