Basketball

By Larry Smith/Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

March 28, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

(Editor's Note: IlliniGuys co-founder Larry Smith reported from a dozen Final Fours and has covered more than 30 NCAA championships during his decades-long career with CNN Sports and Turner Sports)

2005 seems like an eternity ago.

The Cubs hadn’t won a World Series in almost a century.

Martha Stewart was in prison.

Louisville was in the Final Four representing not the ACC, not the Big East, but Conference USA.

And the Illinois basketball team traveled to games with Beatles-like security.

There was no team bigger than the undefeated, #1-ranked Orange and Blue.  Their game highlights led ESPN’s “Sportscenter” every night (this is back when ESPN showed Big Ten highlights). Head coach Bruce Weber had to get a burner cell phone and a uber-private number that he gave only to his closest confidants and people he trusted.  Dee Brown, one of three All-Americans on the team, was a Sports Illustrated cover boy.

For two months, there was no bigger brand than Illinois basketball at a time when all NCAA tournament games were solely on CBS.

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

March 28, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

It’s rare when we actually get to see the top offense and the top defense go head to head in a March matchup, but we have that on Thursday night when #3 Illinois and their high powered offense take on #2 Iowa State and their elite defense. Something’s gotta give. 

Setting the Stage

2024 NCAA Tournament // Regional Semifinal // East Region 

3 Illinois (28-8, 14-6 Big Ten) vs. 2 Iowa State (29-7 Overall, 13-7 Big 12) 

Thursday, March 28, 2024 // 9:09 p.m. CT (10:09 p.m. ET) // Boston, Mass. // TD Garden 

TV: TBS/TruTV – Kevin Harlan (Play-By-Play), Dan Bonner & Stan Van Gundy, Andy Katz Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas National Radio: Westwood One – Scott Graham (Play-By-Play), Jordan Cornette (Analyst) Satellite Radio: SiriusXM – 209 or 202

Notable

*Following victories over Morehead State (85-69) in Round 1 and Duquesne (89-63) in Round 2 last week in Omaha, Neb., Illinois advances to the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal at TD Garden in Boston. The third-seeded Fighting Illini will face second-seeded Iowa State on Thursday (9:09 p.m. CT, TBS/TruTV).
*Illinois is making its 34th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its fourth straight.
*Illinois is playing in the Sweet 16 for first time since its 2005 NCAA Championship game appearance. Overall, this marks Illinois’ 12th all-time appearance in the Sweet 16, and the ninth time that the Fighting Illini have reached this stage since the tournament field expanded to 32 teams in 1975.
*Illinois ranks fifth among Big Ten teams and 19th among all schools for most NCAA Tournament appearances. Illinois is one of only three Big Ten teams – and one of just 14 teams nationally – to earn a bid in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. Illinois’ active streak of four straight NCAA Tournament appearances is its longest since participating eight years in a row from 2000 through 2007.
*Illinois has compiled a 44-34 (.564) record all-time in NCAA Tournament games
*The Cyclones ran their winning streak to five over the weekend, picking up wins over No. 15 seed South Dakota State (82-65) and No. 7 seed Washington State (67-56) to advance to the seventh Sweet 16 in program history. Iowa State cruised to the Big 12 Championship, winning all three games by an average of 20.3 points. Those wins included two over top 15 teams. Keshon Gilbert was named the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, while Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic were named to the AllChampionship Team.
*Only five players in the country are averaging at least 12.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game this season. Two of them reside in the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, with ISU being the only school in the nation with multiple players hitting those marks.
*Iowa State is 31-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures. 

Keys to the Game

Ball Security -

Hours ahead of him leading Illinois into its first Sweet 16 game in 19 years, several Illini teammates of Terrence Shannon Jr. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 28, 2024

BOSTON — Ty Rodgers still vividly remembers the first time he saw Terrence Shannon Jr. on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign nearly two years ago. 

Just a few months after announcing his verbal pledge out of the transfer portal from Texas Tech in the summer of 2022, Shannon Jr. arrived at his next and final college looking for some pickup basketball games at the student rec center. 

Illinois freshman guard Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn tells IlliniGuys.com that he’s not interested in entering the transfer portal after this NCAA Tournament run is over. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 27, 2024

BOSTON — Unless a major dynamic shift occurs, don’t expect Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn to run into the transfer portal once this NCAA Tournament run ends for Illinois. 

The freshman guard, who has only played an average of seven minutes per game in 26 total games, told IlliniGuys.com during the team’s open locker room session inside TD Garden in Boston that he’s against transferring away from the Illini program just one season after they signed the former four-star guard as a consensus Top 150 prospect. 

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood cited historical precedent that having an nationally elite offensive team usually translates to NCAA Tournament success. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 27, 2024

BOSTON — When Illinois head coach Brad Underwood was reminded by a media member that defensive efficiency is usually more valuable than offensive excellence, the Illini seventh-year leader responded with a question of his own. 

“Did you tell that to Miami last year?” Underwood said quickly.

Underwood’s question leads into the example of the 2022-23 Miami (Fla.) squad that made a run to the Final Four despite being No. 99 (and one of the lowest ranked in the NCAA field) in defensive efficiency mostly due to the fact that the offense of Jim Larranaga’s Hurricanes program scored 63, 85, 88 and 89 points in its route to making the program’s first ever Final Four run.

Illinois and Iowa State will arrive at TD Garden for an NCAA Tournament matchup with the nation’s best offense and defensive units respectively. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 27, 2024

BOSTON — If you want best versus best, the second regional semifinal is where you’ll find it. 

At approximately 8:09 p.m. CST on Thursday evening, Illinois will bring the nation’s best offense (according to KenPom.com) and on the other side of the floor will be Iowa State and the nation’s most efficient defense. 

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 26, 2024

For the past three days, I've meticulously reviewed 14 game films featuring Illinois basketball, culminating in this comprehensive scout for Thursday's upcoming contest.

The talk surrounding Iowa State's trapping defense has been incessant, and rightfully so. Their adeptness at doubling the post, pressuring short corners, and executing aggressive blitzes on dribble handoffs is second to none. However, Illinois has confronted similar defensive schemes in recent matchups, particularly in games where opposing teams aimed to neutralize Marcus Domask's impact, referred to as "Booty Ball".

A Closer Look at Illini Tactical Success

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 26, 2024

The Illinois men's basketball team has achieved another team goal, reaching its first Sweet 16 in nineteen years. With excitement buzzing among IlliniGuys subscribers, many are eager to hear the perspectives of former successful players on the 2024 team.

One such voice is Peoria, IL legend center Marcus Griffin, a former McDonald's All-American in 1997, who recently shared his insights.

Griffin, who has found himself drawn back to the State Farm Center more frequently in recent years, explained, "To be honest, it's the vibes, and wanting to see the next great Illinois players keep things going." His return shows the connection and passion that former players maintain for the program.

Illinois Athletics March 24, 2024 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois […]

After several slow starts and early deficits throughout postseason play, Illinois outscores Duquesne 34-13 in the first 12 minutes of action. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 24, 2024

OMAHA, Neb. — So, about those Illinois slow starts huh?

In the team hotel on Thursday night just hours after Illinois had dispatched of 14-seed Morehead State 85-69, Illini assistant coach Geoff Alexander met with guards Terrence Shannon Jr. and Ty Rodgers to begin the preparation for all of the offensive actions that Duquesne can and will run at the Illinois defense. Alexander wanted to press with both of his starting 6-foot-6 perimeter defenders that Duquesne’s sets were predicated on its guard play of Jimmy Clark III and Dae Dae Grant. 

Mike Cagley, Co-Host IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular & Big Sports […]

Brad Sturdy, IlliniGuys Uber-Illini Insider & Co-Host of the IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio 

March 24, 2024

For the first time in 19 years, the Illini are in the Sweet sixteen after an 89-63 drubbing of Duquesne on Saturday night in Omaha. Terrence Shannon continued his onslaught with 30 points, while Marcus Domask added 22 points and 7 assists as Illinois won their 28th game, the 3rd most in program history, behind only the 1989 and 2005 squads that reached the Final Four. 

Brad Underwood also reached his first Sweet Sixteen as a head coach, proving the old adage that you can’t win in March...until you win in March. Now it’s time to head to Boston in the springtime, for a matchup that will see the best offense against the best defense in college basketball when Illinois takes on Iowa State on Thursday hoping for a chance to take one more step up the ladder. 

Here’s what we saw on Saturday. 

These Three Things

Simulating Shannon...is

Brad Underwood ended his own personal NCAA Tournament drought at the same time that Illinois’ second-weekend postseason demons ended in Omaha. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 24, 2024

OMAHA, Neb. — Brad Underwood couldn’t help but turn, clap at and tear up while acknowledging the fans dressed in orange and blue behind his bench.

The Illinois seventh-year head coach exercised some significant postseason demons on Saturday as his employer ended a 19-year drought of reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. It’s a destination Underwood had never found and the goal of ending this drought was the reason he was hired away from Oklahoma State on March 18, 2017. 

By IlliniGuys Staff March 23, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois senior forward Coleman Hawkins says he’s more intensely monitoring an injury situation to his left leg that has hampered most of his 2023-24 season. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 23, 2024

OMAHA, Neb. — During each of the three open locker room sessions of this NCAA Tournament, Coleman Hawkins has sat on the stool in front of his locker while constantly rubbing, stretching and extending his left leg. 

“It felt like (Thursday) I was playing on one working leg,” Hawkins said Friday. “I’m not going to lie. That game against Morehead State got to me.”