Illinois Will be the seeded n ° 7 in the Big Ten tournament and will play a match in the second round at 5.30 p.m. Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Illini will play the winner of the first Wednesday match between the seeded n ° 10 Ohio State and the seeded n ° 15 Iowa.
Illinois (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) won three consecutive games entering the playoffs, beating Iowa And Michigan by 20 points each, then used a race of 13-1 to return and defeat Purge 88-80 Friday.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood is 7-4 all time in the Big Ten tournament, leading the Illinois to two conference tournament championships (2021, 2024).
On potential opponents
The Illinois beat the Ohio State 87-79 on February 2 in Champaign. Buckeyes (17-14, 9-11 Big Ten) enter the Big Ten tournament as one of the “first four” of the CBS NCAA Tournament of CBS of CBS Jerry Palm, so the Jake Diebler team will be desperate for the victories. Ohio State has lost four of its last six regular season games. Buckeyes are directed by guards Bruce Thornton (17.5 points, 4.5 assists), Guess (13.6 points), MICAH Parrish (13.2 points) and John Mobley Jr. (13.2 points) but have weaknesses in the front area.
The Illinois beat Iowa 81-61 on February 25 in Champaign. Illini took a 10 -point lead in the first 10 minutes and led two figures during most of the match. Illini has held the best scorers in Iowa Payton Sandfort And Josh ten At 18 points combined on shooting 7 for 22, and Tomislav Ivisic collected 22 points and five assists, while Kylan Bosewll added 15 points and seven assists. Iowa has lost 11 of its last 15 games to end the regular season.
On the way
If the Illinois wins his second round match, he would spend the seeded n ° 2 Maryland With a CT of 5.30 p.m. Friday. Maryland exploded the Illinois 91-70 on January 23 in Champaign, although Illinois was without a departure center Tomislav Ivisic. Big Men Julian Reese terraapins and Derik Queen Combined for 52 points (on shooting 22 for 36) and 23 rebounds. Maryland (24-7, 14-6 Big Ten) won seven of its last nine regular season, played in a solid defense (n ° 9 nationally) and undoubtedly has the best first beginners in Big Ten with Queen (15.7 points), Reese (13.2 points) and guards and guards Ja’kobi Gillespie (14.9 points), Rodney Rice (13.7 points) and Selton Miguel (12.0 points). Although the terps do not have much depth.
If the Illinois exceeds Maryland, they would probably meet the seeded n ° 3 of Michigan or the seeded n ° 6 in the semi-finals. The Illinois beat the two teams during the last week of the regular season.
What they said
Illini wing White said after the 88-80 Friday victory on Purdue: “We cannot get content for the moment. It was a big victory, but there is still so much more basketball and that’s where we want to be: playing one of the last teams at the end of the day. I do what we do, as I said all year round. I have the impression that it is never against us today.”
Illini coach Brad Underwood said after Purdue’s victory: “(My confidence in our team) grew a lot after this evening. Really, to be very honest, it grew up a lot tonight. Simply the confidence necessary to win a tight match where things are really, really difficult against an incredibly good opponent and a team that will have the best offense in the league to make stops when you need” to find enough Moxy when you could not be down four or five years.
