Basketball

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

March 9, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Associated Press)

We spend a lot of time these days talking about the massive shift in college football that's coming this summer as the Big 10, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 expand and the Pac-12 shrinks into near oblivion.  But change in college basketball has been in the making for a while.  

There are six blueblood schools that have ruled the game: UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Indiana.  From the launch of the NCAA tournament in 1939 until 2012, they combined to dominate with 36 national championships and 86 Final Four appearances.  They won the most, they recruited the best, and they had the biggest names.  Allen, Knight, Krzyzewski, McCracken, Rupp, Smith, Williams, Wooden...Alcindor, Alford, Hansbrough, Jordan, Laettner, Thomas, Walton... just to name a few.

They were so dominant that, in the nearly half-century between 1963 and 2012, there were only four years in which none of them appeared in the Final Four.  If it was April, one of them was stealing the spotlight, whether they won it all or not.

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 8, 2024

In the midst of the ongoing success of the Illinois men's basketball team, Illini basketball recruiting efforts continue to yield promising results.

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting March 8, 2024 […]

The 2023-24 campaign for Illinois women’s basketball ends in […]

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

March 6, 2024

There are only a few games left in the season for the Fighting Illini, and yet they are still learning from these close losses. After falling to Purdue 77-71 in a game where Illinois once again held a lead late only to see the Boilers hit everything down the stretch and pull out the 6-point win. 

At some point, they need to learn how to win these games or when it happens in the NCAA tourney it will mean the end of the road for these Seniors. 

The question becomes, what can they learn, and can they learn in time? 

These 3 Things

Despite being up six at halftime, Illinois coaching staff elected to switch defensive coverages to limit likely back-to-back Wooden Award winner Zach Edey and Purdue’s guards bury Illini.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 6, 2024

CHAMPAIGN — The plan for Illinois’ defense switched on Tuesday night from one half of play to the final 20 minutes of action. 

After the halftime break, Illinois’ coaches decided that if your name wasn’t Zach Edey, you now were formally invited to do everything you could to win this basketball game. This is all the sophomore guard duo of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, along with Purdue head coach Matt Painter needed to see. 

By IlliniGuys Staff March 5, 2024 (Photo courtesy Joe […]

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

March 5, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Pickrell/IlliniGuys)

It’s a battle of the top 2 teams in the Big Ten and two of the top teams in the country in Champaign on Senior night. Purdue and Zach Edey will come to Champaign to take on the 3 headed monster of Terrence Shannon, Marcus Domask, and Coleman Hawkins in a battle of Big Ten powers and the two winningest Big Ten programs over the past 5 seasons. Illinois is the Big Ten’s winningest team in conference play since the start of 2019-20. The Illini are 68-30 (.694) in league games over the last five seasons heading into Tuesday's game vs. Purdue. The Boilermakers rank second during that span with 66 victories. 

It’s also a battle of offenses. Purdue and Illinois are #2 and #3 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and the Illini are #1 over the past two months. The defense that can get stops has a huge advantage in this one. 

Here’s a look at what to expect: 

Setting the Stage

#12 Illinois (22-7, 13-5 B1G) vs. #3/3 Purdue (26-3, 15-3 B1G) 

March 5, 2024 // 6 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center 

TV: Peacock – Noah Eagle (Play-by-Play), Stephen Bardo & Robbie Hummel (Analysts) 

Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas 

Notable

*Illinois has clinched a Big Ten Tournament double-bye for the fourth time in the last five years. The Illini enter the final week of the regular season with a seed range of 1, 2, or 3 in Minneapolis. Head Coach Brad Underwood has led Illinois to 13+ Big Ten wins in four of the last five years, and five straight winning records in conference play.

*Illinois has won six straight home games and is 15-2 at State Farm Center this season. A victory Tuesday would mark the most single-season home wins since the Flyin' Illini set the program record with a 17-0 mark in 1988-89.

*Illinois has scored at least 80 points in nine straight games, the longest streak since the Flyin’ Illini (12) in 1989. Illinois is averaging 97.0 points per game during its current three-game win streak. 

Senior Night Celebration 

Illinois basketball will recognize seven players and three senior managers at State Farm Center on Tuesday night in a pregame ceremony approximately 25 minutes before tip-off (beginning at 5:35 p.m.). 

Managers John Phalen (Springfield), Macy Misiewicz (Shannon) and Jaden Katz (Wilmette) are all majoring in recreation, sport, and tourism. • Max Williams (Chicago) is in his first year with the Illini after joining the program as a preferred walk-on. He scored the first points of his collegiate career on Feb. 13 with a pair of free throws in a win over Michigan. Williams will graduate with a degree in agricultural and consumer economics. 
Luke Goode (Fort Wayne, Ind.) is in his third year with the Illini. After winning a Big Ten championship as a freshman, he returned to action late in the season as a sophomore following a foot injury to help lead Illinois back to the NCAA Tournament. He is averaging 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds this season while shooting 39% from 3-point range. Goode will graduate in just three years from the esteemed Gies College of Business with a degree in finance.
Justin Harmon (Chicago) joined the Illini as a grad transfer and has become one of the most impactful sixth men in the Big Ten Conference. He is averaging 7.0 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 35% from three and better than 90% at the line. Harmon has scored in double figures nine times, led by a season-high 20 points in the Jan. 2 win over Northwestern. He is closing in on 1,000 career points, currently with 950. Harmon is working toward a strategic brand communication graduate certificate. 
Quincy Guerrier (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a grad transfer who has started every game this season. He is averaging 10.2 points, is Illinois’ leading rebounder with an average of 6.7 boards, and leads the Illini with eight doubledoubles on the year. Guerrier set his career scoring high with 28 points in the Braggin’ Rights win over Missouri on Dec. 22. In all, he has totaled 1,576 points and 949 rebounds during his five-year career. Guerrier is in the master’s program in recreation, sport, and tourism. 
Marcus Domask (Waupun, Wis.) is one of the nation’s top graduate transfers, averaging 16.0 points and 4.9 rebounds while leading the Illini with 3.4 assists per game. He has three 30-point games this season, including a career-high 33 at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5 in the win over Florida Atlantic and most recently dropping 31 in Saturday’s win at the Kohl Center in the return to his home state of Wisconsin. Domask has eclipsed 2,000 career points, now sitting with 2,080 over his five-year career. Domask is in the master’s program in recreation, sport, and tourism. 
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Chicago) is just the fourth player in Illinois history to reach 1,000 points in just two years and is now closing in on 2,000 for his career, just 46 away (1,954 points). He is the nation’s fourth-leading scorer this season at 22.0 points per game, the most by an Illini in the last 51 years. Shannon tallied a career high 35 points Feb. 21 at Penn State and has scored in double figures in 33 straight games overall. Shannon is majoring in sociology. 
Coleman Hawkins (Sacramento, Calif.) is the lone four-year member of the Illini roster. He won a Big Ten Tournament championship as a freshman and a Big Ten regular season title as a sophomore. Hawkins has developed into one of the most versatile frontcourt players in the country, averaging 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists during his senior campaign while also leading the team in blocks and steals. He set his career scoring high with 30 points in the Feb. 24 win over Iowa. Hawkins is majoring in recreation, sport, and tourism.

*Purdue owns a 6-0 record against nationally-ranked squads this year, with all of the wins coming against teams ranked in the top 11 at the time of the contest. In addition, Purdue owns an additional win over Alabama, which is ranked No. 16 in this week's AP Top 25 poll. Over the last three seasons, Purdue is 15-5 against nationally-ranked opponents.

*Purdue has averaged at least 1.27 points / possession in 10 of its 18 Big Ten games, including being over 1.45 three times in league play.

The top-two scoring offenses and two of the top three offensively-efficient squads will face off on Tuesday night. The two teams have combined to score 90 or more points 18 times (Illinois - 9; Purdue - 9). The rest of the Big Ten combined has 28 games of 90 or more points.

Keys to the Game:

Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins is likely the last person who envisioned he’d ever be going through a Senior Night celebration in Champaign like the one he’ll participate in Tuesday night. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 5, 2024

CHAMPAIGN — You’ll forgive Coleman Hawkins for claiming he hasn’t thought much about Tuesday night being his final home game at State Farm Center. He honestly never thought he was going to get to this moment in his college basketball career.
Hawkins can point to several moments in four-year career where the 6-foot-10 forward had put Champaign-Urbana and the University of Illinois in his rearview mirror. 

Illinois stopped Nebraska from making a field goal for the final five minutes of action to turn a seven-point deficit into a 74-73 win on Senior Day in Champaign. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 4, 2024

CHAMPAIGN — With five minutes remaining, Illinois head coach Shauna Green called a timeout and whipped around to yell out the obvious problem with her team.

“We can’t guard them,” Green exclaimed as she stared at her bench of coaches and reserve players as the scoreboard showed Nebraska up 71-64.

Illinois holds Nebraska, a projected 2024 NCAA Tournament at-large team, without a field goal for the final five minutes of a 74-73 victory for the Illini. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 3, 2024

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois finished the 2023-24 season with a home win against a projected NCAA Tournament team.

A dramatic 74-73 victory over a Nebraska squad that came to State Farm Center looking to lock up the No. 4 seed and the final double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament ended with several missed jump shots and free throws in a frantic defensive effort by the veteran Illini group. 

Illinois (14-14, 8-10 in Big Ten Conference) forced Nebraska to miss its last nine field goal attempts to preserve the Illini’s first home win against Nebraska since 2017 and overcame a late deficit with a finishing 6-0 run over the final two minutes and 10 seconds. 

Makira Cook topped 1,500 career points in her four-year college tenure Sunday with a 20-point effort that also included six rebounds and five assists for the 5-foot-6 guard. 

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

March 3, 2024

Well, it technically wasn’t homecoming, but it was a homecoming for Marcus Domask, the 5th year senior and former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball that went back and dominated the Badgers on Saturday with 31 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists to help Illinois win their 4th straight in the Kohl Center and solidify a top 3 seed in the Big Ten tourney with the 91-83 win. 

This sets up a showdown between the top 2 teams in the Big Ten on Tuesday night from the State Farm Center in Champaign that should have the college basketball world buzzing., 

Here’s what we saw on Saturday….

Domask-ination - In his first interview on the weekly IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular I asked Marcus Domask if there was one game he had circled on the schedule. He deferred, but after some extra prodding it became clear that he wanted to play this game in Wisconsin. He did not disappoint. His ability to finish with either hand, score over taller defenders, and now shooting 39% from 3 in Big Ten play is elite, and you throw in his passing ability, and you have a mismatch nightmare. Illinois continues to ask for a lot from the SIU transfer and Wisconsin native, and he continues to deliver. 

Three Illinois starters who will be honored after this […]

Former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball selection Marcus Domask leads No. 13 Illinois with 31 points to erase a terrible final high school memory inside the Kohl Center in Madison.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 2, 2024

MADISON, Wis. — Marcus Domask had this March 2nd matchup circled on his calendar for months with the mission of correcting a wrong in his basketball life. 

The last time Domask had stepped off the Kohl Center floor was March 16, 2019, as the Waupun (Wis.) High School senior was trying to mentally and emotionally recover from losing his final high school basketball game. The fifth-year senior, who said he figured 250-300 members of friends and family related to him were in attendance today, waited 1,813 days to guarantee himself a much better feeling in his last ever basketball game just 55 miles from his hometown. 

Domask finished with a game-high 31 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes played. 

“I wasn’t about to go out of here with a L,” Domask said. “It was real important that we got the win today for sure.” 

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