Basketball

Illinois will host No. 1 Tennessee inside State Farm Center on Saturday where Vols head coach Rick Barnes expects his fundamentally physical and sound defense will travel to Champaign.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 13, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The physicality of the college basketball game is one of the main reasons Kasparas Jakucionis wanted to attempt the transition from European amateur leagues to the University of Illinois.

If physical, in-your-face defense and rebounding was what the 18-year-old wished to see in his journey from Lithuania to Barcelona, Spain to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, he’ll more than likely get his fill when No. 1 Tennessee comes to State Farm Center on Saturday afternoon.

Tennessee (9-0) comes into this game with one of the most intimidating and disciplined defensive operations in college basketball. The Volunteers, led by 10th year head coach Rick Barnes, are No. 2 in defensive efficiency by KenPom.com and it’s the style of play that routinely gets offenses out of its comfort zone with what could be classified as the Mike Tyson plan as the former world heavyweight champion said that “everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face”.

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

December 13, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - It was a tough pill to swallow.

An Illinois team coming off a high-profile, thorough whipping of then-19th ranked Arkansas on a neutral court as one of the largest regular season television audiences in the past two decades watched, marched into Evanston ready to dispose of a lesser-renowned Northwestern and send a signal that they will be a beast not just in the Big Ten, but on a national stage.

They were three-fourths of the way there, leading by 10 with ten minutes to go.

Illinois head coach Shauna Green knows her team is playing solid defense and experiencing a recent offensive lull and she’d rather deal with that reality because the opposite would a nightmare.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 13, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In the two losses this season to Top 15 opponents, Illinois has gone through long stretches of offensive ineptitude while still maintaining defensive intensity and maturity.

When asked on Wednesday afternoon at State Farm Center if she would prefer this early season problem than the reverse situation, Illinois head coach Shauna Green was emphatic in her answer.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 12, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) Illinois vs. Bradley - […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 12, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

The Fighting Illini got a much needed 86-80 win over Wisconsin on Tuesday evening behind big performances from Tre White, Kasparas Jakucionis and Kylan Boswell to move to 7-2 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten play headed into the huge Saturday matchup with #1 Tennessee.

*”He’s Figured Out College Basketball,” was what one scout said about the performance of KJ on Tuesday evening, and his 4-game run.

Illinois wing Tre White led the call from their head coach to improve the level of compete on the offensive glass in a 86-80 win over Wisconsin.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 11, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As he sat down to the post-game podium inside the State Farm Center, Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard put on his glasses, took one look at the printed box score in front of him and looked like he wanted to vomit.

“There’s way you can affect the game in other areas other than scoring,” Gard said. “You look at Steve’s [Crowl] line tonight (and) he has no rebounds. How do you have no rebounds. How do you have no rebounds?”

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

December 11, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Monday was the start of an official visit for Alexander Constanza, one of the nation's top 25 basketball prospects in the class of 2026. During Illinois’ Big Ten home opener against the Wisconsin Badgers on Tuesday night, Constanza shared his thoughts on the visit and his future.

Constanza, a five-star recruit, discussed the possibility of reclassifying to join college basketball earlier than anticipated.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 10, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 10, 2024

The Illini are back at the State Farm Center for the first time in two weeks in their Big Ten home opener against #20 Wisconsin. Following their loss to Northwestern, this is almost a must win game for Illinois as they host #1 Tennessee Saturday and have an improved Missouri team in St. Louis along with a game at Oregon in the next month.

Let’s look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage

Illinois (6-2, 0-1 B1G) vs. #20/22 Wisconsin (8-2, 0-1 B1G)
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 // 8 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
Stream: Peacock – Noah Eagle (Play-by-Play) & Robbie Hummel (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas

Notable

-Illinois is 5-0 at home this season. Illinois is No. 12 in the NCAA NET rankings through games played Dec. 8. The Illini rank first in the Big Ten.

-Illinois’ matchup vs. #20 Wisconsin is the first of back-to-back games against ranked opponents this week. Illinois also hosts #1 Tennessee on Saturday (4:30 p.m. CT/FOX) at State Farm Center.

-The Illini rank third in the nation with a scoring margin of +23.8. Illinois’ 13-point win vs. #19 Arkansas was the largest by an unranked Illinois team over a top-25 foe under head coach Brad Underwood. Before the matchup with the Razorbacks, the Illini were coming off of the team’s two largest victory margins of the season – vs. UMES (+47, 87-40) and vs. Little Rock (+58, 92-34).

-Kasparas Jakucionis has scored 20+ points in three consecutive games, becoming the first Illini freshman to do so in program history. Jakucionis is the fifth freshman of the Brad Underwood Era to record at least three total 20-point games in his rookie season, joining Ayo Dosunmu (7 in 2018-19), Trent Frazier (5 in 2017-18), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (5 in 2018-19), and Kofi Cockburn (5 in 2019-20).

By IlliniGuys Staff December 10, 2024   Here's what […]

By IlliniGuys Staff

December 9, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Stock Risers)

CHAMPAIGN, IL – The Illini are off to a strong start this season with a 6-2 record, but while the games are underway, recruiting efforts are relentless. Illinois is hosting a big-time prospect, four-star wing Alexander Constanza, a 6-foot-8, 190-pound small forward from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on an official visit starting today.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 8, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) Date | Time Sunday, […]

Brad Sturdy, IlliniGuys Insider December 7, 2024 The Illini […]