Basketball

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

March 24, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Illini head into the Sweet 16 for the 2nd time in the past 3 years behind a mid-season adjustment that has led to a dominant offense.

The knock on Brad Underwood is often that he is stubborn and doesn’t change, but the reality is far from that narrative. In the 2024 season the Illini were playing well, but struggled to have an identity. After a loss to Tennessee in Knoxville in December, the Illini made a change to play through Marcus Domask and his ‘booty ball’ style. The Illini had struggled to defend it when Penn State had executed to perfection behind future NBA Guard Jalen Pickett surrounded by 4 shooters.

But the change was evident, and effective. Domask had a 20% usage or higher in just four of the first 9 games and would then have a usage rate above 20% in 27 of the remaining 29 games, would help Illinois to the Elite 8, become an all-conference player and withstand the Terrence Shannon ‘suspension’. The Illini finished the season with the #3 rated offense on KenPom.

In 2026, it was a similar scenario. Illinois had lost to UConn at Madison Square Garden and Freshman Guard Keaton Wagler had been solid, playing off the ball mostly and even grabbing a ton of offensive rebounds from the ‘dunker’ spot. Illinois was 6-2, but they were ranked as the #23 offense and #35 defense.

By IlliniGuys Staff March 23, 2026 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By Larry Smith - IlliniGuys Co-Founder

March 23, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Cinderellas are hard to find in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

More than 40 years after men's teams were banned from hosting tourney games in their own arenas, the women still do it every year by selecting 16 sub-regionals - or "pods" - to stage the first two rounds. This means home games for the top 16 overall seeds in the field. 

And that means far fewer upsets than their male counterparts. Since the pandemic cancelled the 2020 national tournaments,

24 hours before tip of the NCAA Tournament second round game blowout loss to Illinois, VCU’s Lazar Djokovic said Illinois and the Ivisic twins was the matchup he wanted.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 22, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Lazar Djokovic said he it was a basketball desire of his to play against the Balkan states brethren Ivisic brothers and on Selection Sunday wanted the matchup against Illinois.

On Saturday night, Djokovic’s dream turned quickly into a nightmare during Illinois’ 76-55 blowout win over Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Djokovic, who will turn 22 years old next month and is on his third college program in three seasons says he has followed the careers of Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic going all the way back to when he competed for Serbia in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup, averaging 14.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. VCU’s 6-foot-11 forward was coming off a 15-point outing in the comeback victory over North Carolina on Thursday night and then made the comment that Zvonimir Ivisic said Saturday night following the 21-point victory that he definitely heard and read just to make sure it was correct.

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

March 22, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Tomislav Ivisic said he didn’t see or hear the comments from Lazar Djokovic about wanting this matchup against the Ivisic brothers, but Zvonomir definitely did. Regardless, the brothers had a different level of energy on Saturday night as the Illini cruised to a 76-55 win over VCU in the round of 32 to move on to the Sweet 16 where they will see a red hot Houston team in Houston.

Andrej Stojakovic led the way with 21 points off the bench, but the play of Tomislav might be the most important thing moving forward. More on that later. The defense was also spectacular, holding VCU to their season low of 55 points and 21% shooting from 3. To win in March, you have to do it on both ends.

Here’s a recap.

These 3 Things

Tomi is Back!?! - Coming off of a 12-point 7-rebound game, Tomi posted 14 and 11 showing off a newfound sense of urgency. “Maybe he needs to play in an NCAA tournament every game,” Brad Underwood quipped. But he’s right in that this Tomi is the Tomi Illinois expected. Making 3’s is great,, but rebounding, defending and playing with energy are the keys to maybe opening up the rest of his game. Good Tomi can make a great Illinois.
Freshmen are Resilient 

In a second straight blowout NCAA Tournament win, Illinois held VCU to just 7 of 32 from three-point range and just 34.8 percent from the field to advance to the Round of 16 in Houston.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 22, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Brad Underwood detailed the day before the NCAA Tournament started what his team’s defense could look like when they’re at their best.

Let’s go through Underwood’s points of emphasis from Wednesday afternoon.

“They’re not touching the paint,” the Illini ninth-year head coach said.

VCU lost the battle of points in the paint 36-28 - check.

“We’re not giving up twos,” said Underwood. “We’re contesting threes.”

VCU made less than half of their attempts from two-point range and 7 of 32 from beyond the arc - check, check.

“And we’re limiting teams to one shot,” said Underwood in his final point.

VCU had 12 offensive rebounds result in just 12 second-chance points - check.

It may be safe to assume Underwood saw this plan fully in action on Saturday night.

“I thought that our defense was outstanding in the first half. (Illinois assistant coach/defensive coordinator) Cam Crocker did a terrific job in game-planning and these guys did a terrific job in following that,” Underwood said Saturday night from the post-game podium. “I thought that (Tomislav Ivisic) did an excellent job in protecting the front of the paint, I thought we did it without fouling, we didn't put them on the foul line a lot. And then I thought (Kylan Boswell) was excellent on Hill.”

Illini reserve guard Brandon Lee expects to be back for sophomore season and is actively recruiting veteran Ty Rodgers back for 2026-27 campaign.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 22, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Welcome to the major reason Andrej Stojakovic transferred to Illinois.

After persevering through two losing seasons at Stanford and California, Stojakovic was eyeing an opportunity this summer to find a program where he could have a big role and perform on the highest stage of college basketball - and there is nothing bigger than the NCAA Tournament.

“We came here for a reason, because we believe in this program, and we're going to continue to control what we can, and that's how much we work at it and with what intensity we play,” Stojakovic said.

Stojakovic’s kamikaze nature of putting his head down and driving to the rim went nearly without resistance Saturday night as the 21-year-old went for a game-high 21 points on on 7 of 12 shooting and more importantly, 7 of 9 from the foul line in a 26-minute effort off the bench.

“I think me coming here and getting to this point, just like every other newcomer to come to this team this year, all we can do is help this team go as far as we can,” Stojakovic said. “We see how hard we work every single day, and we understand how much this means to us. It just translates on the court. We trust each other. We love each other. We've just got to keep it going.”

Earlier in the week in Greenville, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood told local media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1j-RZvj0YM    

Keaton Wagler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEN6Ongmyp0   David Mirkovic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKNhHq3QPGs   Tomislav […]

By IlliniGuys Staff March 21, 2026 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By IlliniGuys Staff March 21, 2026 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By Larry Smith - IlliniGuys Co-Founder

March 21, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When she walked off the court in Austin, Texas following Illinois' NCAA Tournament second round loss a year ago, Shauna Green knew the season ahead would be different.

"Yeah, I mean, losing pretty much our starting lineup last year and over 80% of our scoring and had a very veteran team", Green told reporters on Friday. "Now we're the youngest team in the NCAA tournament right now."

The Illini were also the youngest team in the rugged Big Ten this season, but that didn't stop them from going 9-9 in conference play and 21-11 overall to land a spot in the NCAA field for the second year in a row and third time in Green's four seasons in Champaign.

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

March 21, 2026

After dominating Penn, the Illini are now ready for Cinderella VCU in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. The Rams came back from a 19-point deficit to upset the North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday and they are definitely not intimidated.

“We’re ready to defend,” Jadrian Tracy, VCU senior guard said. Every possession we’re locked in. We’re going to be focused. They’re a pretty good team, have some good players and are well coached. But they‘ve got to guard us too.”

The Illini are extremely loose and confident. Jason Jakstys and AJ Redd were performing interviews during the media session, and David Mirkovic was his typical goofy self coming off of the best game of his career. They will need to be loose, but also focused, if they want to win this one.

Here’s a look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage
2026 NCAA Tournament // Second Round // South Region
3 Illinois (25-8, 15-5 B1G) vs. 11 VCU (28-7, 15-3 A-10)
Sat, March 21 // 6:50 p.m. CT (7:50 p.m. ET) // Greenville, S.C. // Bon Secours Wellness Arena TV: CBS – Ian Eagle (Play-By-Play), Bill Raftery & Grant Hill (Analysts), & Tracy Wolfson
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas National Radio: Westwood One – Noah Eagle (Play-By-Play) & LaPhonso Ellis (Analyst) // Satellite Radio: SiriusXM – 208 or 201

Notable
*Illinois is 1-0 all-time against VCU. Illinois is 4-0 all-time against the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

*Brad Underwood is one victory away from reaching 300 career wins as a Div. I head coach.

The 19-point comeback by Virginia Commonwealth to knock off North Carolina in the first round Friday night wasn’t a coincidence to Rams head coach Phil Martelli Jr. - it’s what they are.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 20, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy VCU Athletics)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The proper term to define Virginia Commonwealth men’s basketball following one of the largest second-half comebacks in NCAA Tournament history is something their first-year head coach saw before Thanksgiving.

“The word is resilience,” Rams head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said Friday in his media conference inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

The 44-year-old coach, who is the son and shared named of a legendary figure in the profession, saw that description of his basketball team in his second game on the job in Frisco, Texas when VCU found themselves down 57-40 to Utah State with 15 minutes left.

In what would become Martelli Jr.’s first loss at VCU, a 80-77 defeat on Nov. 7, the Rams (28-7) figured out a way to tie the game 76-76 with 34 seconds remaining and what should have been a deflating moment instantly became a building block.

“I knew right then and there, I said we've got something here,” Martelli Jr. said. “We've got something because we have that resilience and you can't be successful without it.”

So, being down 56-37 early in the second half to North Carolina, one of the most storied programs in sport on the game’s biggest stage of the NCAA Tournament wasn’t something this VCU squad needed to think was uncharted waters.

In his NCAA Tournament debut, Keaton Wagler had a tough time scoring in the first half but remembered the question his Illini coach always asks of his players that has nothing to do with offense.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 20, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Illinois head coach Brad Underwood has the same test for all of the players on his roster - show me value on the court when your shots aren’t falling.

Keaton Wagler passed that test Thursday night with the eyes of a nation focusing on his NCAA Tournament debut.

“Individual offense is fleeting,” Underwood said. “Our program will always be defined by the players in those jerseys being able to figure out what to do when the ball isn’t easily going in. I was telling our staff before I watched Kofi (Cockburn) play in a high school game where he had two points, and I watched Keaton play in a high school game where he had two points, and they both became All-Americans in college. It's not all about scoring points. It's all the intangible things they become about and the hard work.”

Through 20 minutes of play in the Illini’s first round matchup against Pennsylvania, the Ivy League Tournament champions, Wagler was having a cold shooting night but also what the 19-year-old would also call a typical first half.