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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.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and his Illini staff have a plan to address specific positional needs in this current portal opening. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 11, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The coaches who work inside the Smith Family Football Complex in Champaign are figuring that winning can dramatically flip the perception of their targets in the transfer portal. 

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.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio […]

Illinois football is 0-6 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents and is a 10.5-point underdog to No. 15 South Carolina in 2024 Citrus Bowl. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 8, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — No matter the specific situation he has encountered, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema says feels like he’s fighting uphill against the program’s history. 

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

Illinois has been selected to its second New Year’s […]

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

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

December 8, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – There were 19 players who had given verbal commitments to Illinois football head coach Bret Bielema and were expected to sign and send in their National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day on Wednesday.

But a 20th such letter was a bit of a surprise.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 7, 2024

We should call this wildcard week, because in the last three days Illinois has added three players to its recruiting class who all have incredibly good attributes in some ways yet big question marks in other ways such that each of them could be All Conference, or All Afterthought. The third of these three players has the best resume in that John Forster was at one time a four star rated player, yet is currently a high three star player by all the evaluators and its seems to be based primarily on the lack of production in his senior year. However, St. Joseph Regional High School saw that Forster is more than a between tackles runner like Forster's predecessor, four star Syracuse signee Yasin Willis. Forster is a runner first, but he's a reliable receiver with very good hands, so St. Joseph splits him out wide to both run routes and to stay alive as an option for their multi-purpose quarterback. It's a really interesting offense, but unfortunately for Forster it doesn't work to feature his outstanding running ability.