Basketball

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

March 13, 2025

It’s tourney time! The Illini are back in action on the 2nd day of the Big Ten tournament when they will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes took care of Ohio State on Wednesday and likely knocked them to the wrong side of the bubble while extending the Fran McCaffrey era a little bit longer.

Here’s a look at the matchup.

Setting the Stage

2025 Big Ten Tournament // Indianapolis, Ind. // Gainbridge Fieldhouse
#24 Illinois (20-11) vs. 15 seed Iowa (17-15)
Thursday, March 13 // 5:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. ET)
TV: BTN – Kevin Kugler (Play-By-Play), Robbie Hummel (Analyst), Andy Katz (Sideline)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas National Radio: Compass Media Networks – Gregg Daniels (Play-By-Play), Danny Green Satellite Radio: SiriusXM – 84

By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– The 2025 All-Big […]

March 11, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The largest Big Ten tournament ever tips off tomorrow and the league's first postseason men's basketball event that's not all-inclusive.

The field expands to 15 teams to make room for newcomers Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington joining the Big Ten. However, the new format means the lowest three teams in the regular season standings will not be invited. Washington, Penn State, and Nebraska, which finished the season on a five-game losing streak, will all stay at home.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) EVANSTON, Ill. – Lucas Byrd became […]

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 10, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As the men’s and women’s college basketball seasons wind down, coaches must immediately begin building their rosters for the next season.

Brad Sturdy, Illini Insider & Co-Host IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

March 9, 2025

The Illini finally won a close game by making plays down the stretch. They used a 13-1 run in the final 3 minutes to close out Purdue 88-80 as they continue to show growth since the loss to Duke at Madison Square Garden. 

Following a spectacular performance in win over Purdue, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood may argue with anybody that his most improved player is Tre White.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

CHAMPAIGN — Purdue head coach Matt Painter got introduced to the full Tre White experience from Illinois.

Following a 88-80 loss to the Illini, the Boilermakers 20-year head coach said he’d leave State Farm Center Friday night with one baffling thought.

“We just defensively couldn’t pick up the dive cut guy in our rotations,” Painter said shaking his head. “We just couldn’t take the dive guy. It drives me nuts.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUXe9eYel3A    

By IlliniGuys Staff March 7, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

After surviving multiple significant injuries to key players, Illinois head coach Shauna Green is going to focus on body recovery before her team’s NCAA Tournament game.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 7, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS — In the week prior to being selected to the WBIT field, Shauna Green put her squad through some of the most grueling practices and intrasquad scrimmages of the season to get prepared for a postseason run.

Needless to say, the Illinois third-year head coach will not be doing that from now to when the NCAA Tournament bracket being revealed on the night of March 16 (7 p.m. CST on ESPN).

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

March 7, 2025

The Illini are solidly in the NCAA field but have a chance to move up at least a seed line, and possibly more next week. They have lost 5 in a row in this series and need this win to show how good they can be when healthy. The Illini dominated Michigan on Sunday, but the Boilers are coming off a beat down of Rutgers and appear to be gaining steam.

It should be a good one.

Setting the Stage
Illinois (19-11, 11-8 B1G) vs. #18 Purdue (21-9, 13-6 B1G)
Friday, March 7, 2025 // 7 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: FOX – Jason Benetti (Play-by-Play) & Bill Raftery (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas National Radio: Compass Media Networks – Wayne Larrivee (Play-By-Play) & Danny Green

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 7, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Lincoln Williams, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior shooting guard from Kankakee, is no stranger to Illinois fans in terms of recruiting. According to him, he has visited Champaign eight or nine times this season.

Illinois head coach Shauna Green will now have 10 days to evaluate why the final 10 minutes of games has been the achilles heel for this 2024-25 group in late February and March.

By Matt Stevens' - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 6, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS — Now it’s becoming a nasty trend.

The first game of the 2025 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament served as a second straight game in which Illinois saw a disastrous fourth quarter lead to a loss.

Shauna Green’s mood turned drastically in the final 10 minutes of play as the Illinois head coach watched her squad get outscored by Nebraska 25-14 in the final quarter to pull off a 74-70 upset win and send the Illini home from Gainbridge Fieldhouse earlier than they obviously hoping to stay.

“This game just comes down to, again, the fourth quarter and really our last five minutes again,” Green said. “It's something that we've struggled with the last few games. Their best scoring run was in the fourth. That can't happen. We gave up whatever it was in the fourth, and then again, everything we've been talking about was finishing plays, getting those rebounds. It's why we lost really the Michigan game, and we did the same thing tonight.”

Two of the best centers in the Big Ten and all of women’s college basketball will face off as 7-seed Illinois draws 10-seed Nebraska in the second round of the league tournament tonight.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 6, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS — In her return to her home state for her final Big Ten Tournament, Kendall Bostic has drawn the other center in the conference receiving so much attention this season.

When the ball is tipped at 5:30 p.m. CST tonight on Big Ten Network, the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd will immediately see the league’s two best centers in the circle when Bostic and Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski are matched up one time. The duo represents two players selected to the league’s first team all conference selections by the league’s media contingent and rank No. 3 (Bostic’s 53) and No. 4 (Markowski’s 52) among active players in career double-double performances.