Basketball

Illinois first-year center Morez Johnson has a confidence-building performance in the in-state rivalry win over Northwestern.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If there’s a college basketball head coach who has seen what a motivated and angry Morez Johnson can do for a basketball team, it’s Northwestern’s Chris Collins.

Whether it’s been his first three years at St. Rita or his senior year at Thornton Township High School, Johnson’s high school career has been about an hour drive south on Highway 41 from the Northwestern University campus and Collins, who has had a connection to the state of Illinois practically his whole life, had heard about the Illini’s 6-foot-9 freshman big since about the time Johnson entered puberty.

By IlliniGuys Staff January 26, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

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

January 26, 2025

The Illini are back in action on Sunday and will once again be short-handed with 7’1 center Tomislav Ivisic against Northwestern. The Wildcats beat the Illini in Evanston back in December by a 70-66 score in overtime behind 27 points from Nick Martinelli. This time Illinois has a sold-out home crowd and are hoping for a bit of revenge.

Here’s a look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage

#17 Illinois (13-6, 5-4) vs. Northwestern (12-7, 3-5)
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025 // 2 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: BTN – Dave Revsine (Play-by-Play) & Jordan Taylor (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

January 25, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team finds itself in a must-win situation as it prepares to face cross-state rival Northwestern after dropping two consecutive conference games against Michigan State and Maryland.

Thursday's loss against Maryland was witnessed by a familiar face

By IlliniGuys Staff January 25, 2025 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - […]

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

January 25, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill - For many Illini fans, we got out of bed this morning with a little less pep in our step.

That 91-70 beatdown by Maryland Thursday night left us feeling like we just had a Salmonella Special at the local diner before the game and we felt worse as the night went on.

There's no way to sugarcoat it; it was ugly.  But here's the good news:

It was only...one...game.

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

January 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. The Illini were the bug on Thursday night as the Maryland Terrapins totally dominated Illinois by a 91-70 score, one of the 12 worst defeats for Illinois at home in the entirety of their program, going back 120 years. Julian Reese had 27 and 17, but Derik Queen’s 25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals was even more impressive. Kasparas Jakucionis had 21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, but also had 7 turnovers, many leading to Maryland runouts.

Here’s a look back at what we saw.

Illinois picked up a 25-point victory inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in the in-state rivalry matchup against Northwestern but accomplished it while its trio of star players sat the bench.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

EVANSTON, Ill. — With about three minutes remaining in what was a 29-point blowout, Kendall Bostic signaled to her head coach that she was ready to go back in the game.

Illinois head coach Shauna Green didn’t even look at her fifth-year center.

By IlliniGuys Staff January 23, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois picked up its second straight 20-point victory inside […]

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

January 23, 2025

The Illini welcome Maryland on Thursday night and the Terps have been a thorn in the side of the Illini over the years. The Terrapins are 15-8 against the Illini and a shocking 6-2 in Champaign, winning over #10 Illinois in January of 2024. The Illini are hoping for a bounce back game after the heartbreaking defeat on Sunday and look to have a very good schedule to start a nice little run, but they will need to take care of the Terrapins first.

Here’s a look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage
#17 Illinois (13-5, 5-3) vs. Maryland (14-5, 4-4)
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025 // 8 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: FS1 – Jason Benetti (Play-by-Play) & Bill Raftery (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) Illinois at Northwestern Date […]

January 21, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy Imagn Images)   […]

Illinois delivered 40 of its 78 points from the four members of the bench on Sunday as the Illini used a close loss to reveal its critically important depth.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 20, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Logic would suggest that Morez Johnson knew his role was likely to grow in the next few games once Tomislav Ivisic was diagnosed with strep throat.

Of course, to use that logic, you have to presume Johnson, the backup at Illinois behind the 21-year-old Croatian big, knew what his teammate was trying to play through on Sunday. Because Johnson didn’t.

“I didn’t actually know that Tommi was sick,” Johnson said.

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

January 20, 2025

Sometimes it just isn't your day. The Illini went into East Lansing on Sunday and found out that to win on the road you need to be more than just a little bit better than your opponent.