22+ hour, 28+ min ago   (431+ words) Two drastically different worlds are set to collide on Saturday night in East Lansing, Michigan (7 p.m. CT, FOX). Illinois, at the highest of highs, is riding a 12-game win streak and playing better basketball than arguably any squad in Division I…...

1+ week, 10+ hour ago   (451+ words) If you win the rebounding battle, you win the game. That's what practically every coach in basketball will tell you. Although the notion tends to hold true, it's not an iron-clad rule. In Illinois' previous defeat " which feels like ages…...

1+ week, 11+ hour ago   (469+ words) Exactly 50 days to the minute separates Illinois" first matchup with Nebraska on Dec. 13 " a gut-wrenching three-point loss for the Illini " and the club"s opportunity to exact revenge on the Cornhuskers on Feb. 1 (3 p.m. CT, FS1). In the time since, the two…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (307+ words) This isn't a traditional First Look at Nebraska. Illinois has already lived that movie once this season. Consider this the director's cut " with injuries, rotation changes and a much thinner margin for error added in. (For the baseline version of…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (590+ words) No. 9 Illinois (17-3, 8-1 Big Ten) has rattled off nine straight wins and enters its final third of the season appearing to be every bit a Big Ten title contender and Final Four hopeful. Here's our prediction for the rest of the…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (419+ words) KenPom is widely considered the king of all college basketball metrics " the Holy Grail of hoops analytics. To reach the top of the KenPom mountain is a feat many would desire to achieve, but few ever do. Illinois hasn't reached…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago   (503+ words) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. " Sitting on top of an equipment cart, hair still damp from the water shower from his teammates in the locker room, Keaton Wagler finally had a moment to himself, a wide smile on his face." The once…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago   (213+ words) Painter isn't dismissing the Illini ahead of Saturday's clash with the Boilermakers " but he believes they could get even stronger at just the right time ... Boilermakers coach Matt Painter isn't overlooking either player's absence. In fact, no matter what happens…...

2+ week, 5+ hour ago   (160+ words) The Illini can't replace Boswell's impact, but they can take a new route to finding success on both ends that ultimately makes them more resilient Prediction: Illinois 79, Purdue 77 Of all the times to take the court without Kylan Boswell, a…...

2+ week, 13+ hour ago   (377+ words) The raw stats reflect it, the advanced analytics support it and the eye test certainly backs it up: Illinois is an elite offensive team. Still, although that may be obvious enough even to the most elementary-level ball-knower, it's best broken…...