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 like '05 all over again. The Illini went to the locker room up 47-19, and they were even able to get Jon Rothstein to fire an "Illinois Basketball. Here Comes The Paign" tweet with 20 minutes of gametime left. Illinois did not slow down for a second on either side of the ball in the second half. It was surgical performance for the first 35 minutes before Illinois went deep into their bench. The Illini led 79-30 with 5 minutes remaining. Northwestern went on a run to close the game, but it was absolutely meaningless. Illinois' 84-44 victory is their largest conference victory since 2004.

Illinois showed their elite shot making abilities. Northwestern came into the State Farm Center and dared Keaton Wagler to give up the ball. The Wildcats hard blitzed every screen. For the first few minutes it worked, as the Illini had some bad turnovers. After the first media timeout, it was ineffective. Wagler did a great job spreading the ball around, and all the other Illini were hitting shots. Illinois is able to beat defenses no matter what is thrown at them. Get the ball out Keaton's hands? He will just sling the ball around, and a shooter will be open. Switch everything? Wagler will drop 46 on you. The Illini are able to put defenses into a bind. This offense is an elite display of modern basketball. The second half was just an exhibition. Keaton Wagler was hitting spin cycles for an ally-oop to Zvonimir Ivisic, and Andrej Stojakovic tried to poster someone at least 3 times. Defensively, Illinois is continuing to improve despite losing their defensive ace. Northwestern missed a lot of shots, but Illinois gives nothing easy at the rim. Teams have to shoot well for 40 minutes to keep up, and Northwestern couldn't even do it for a couple minutes. Lost in the shuffle of the avalanche on offense, Illinois held the nation's leading scorer to 4 points on 2/10 shooting. The buzz in the State Farm Center in the second half was a culmination of what this team has already accomplished, but the many goals that still lie ahead. This isn't your average Illinois Basketball team.

What This Means:

Illinois extends their win streak to 12. The Illini are now in sole possession of 1st place in the Big Ten at 11-1, albeit Michigan will probably join them tonight as they are 20+ point favorites at home against Penn State. The Nittany Lions had a chance to knock off Michigan earlier this year, so don't count it out just yet.

This win moves Illinois to 20-3 overall and now clinches a 7th straight season of 20+ regular season wins. This might go unnoticed because this team has bigger goals than 20 wins, but it still shows how good the Brad Underwood era has been. Illinois is only 1 of 3 programs to have 7 straight 20-win seasons at the moment. SDSU will probably join soon, but regardless the consistency built under Brad Underwood is remarkable.

Illinois swept Northwestern for the first time since 2022. The Illini made the all-time series a 100-win differential once again at 146-46.

The metrics keep improving. Illinois is up to #5 on KenPom with the best offense and #19 defense. This is noteworthy because 23 out the last 24 National Champions have been top 21 in adjusted offensive efficiency and 22 out 24 have been top 29 in defensive efficiency. Since the start of the win streak, Illinois has been the best team in the country on Torvik. Illinois is starting to meet all the criteria to be a threat to cut some nets in March and April.

Illinois has a chance to pick up a 3rd straight top 10 road win on Saturday against a Michigan State team that is reeling. Enjoy the rest of the season. This could be something real special.