2/15/2019 1 Comment Win StreakThe Illini mens basketball team has finally found their groove this season. Currently the team is at 10-15 for the season. Last blog the team was at 5-14, which means the team has 5 of their last 6 games, and two of those wins are against teams ranked in the top 15 nationally. At the time that this blog is being written the team is on a 4 game win streak. The first of the five games the team has won came against the 13th ranked Maryland Terrapins with a score of 78-67. Freshman Ayo Dosunmu lead the team with 20 points and Tevian Jones scored 18 points off the bench. After this game fans started to feel better about the team, however they ended up taking a tough loss against Minnesota 86-75, with Trent Frazier leading the team with 30 points. The Illini were able to bounce back quickly and got a 71-64 win at home against Nebraska. Kipper Nichols had a good game off the bench scoring 18 points. The next game will likely be their biggest win of the season. It came against the 9th ranked Michigan State Spartans at home in the State Farm Center. The game was pretty close throughout, but the Illini had the lead 41-32 going into half time. In the second half the Spartans were able to pull closer towards the end but the Illini had played too well throughout the entire game and the clock expired with Illinois leading 79-74. Ayo Dosunmu had a phenomenal game scoring 24 points followed by Giorgi Bezhanishvili with 16. After the game the Illinois student section known as the Orange Krush rushed the court to celebrate a great win against a top ten team. After this huge win the Illini were able to carry their momentum into another home game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights beating them 99-94. Freshman center Giorgi Bezhanishvili had a season high of 35 points. The next game for the Illini was a road game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Illini were able to continue their win streak with a win over the Buckeyes with a score of 63-56. Ayo Dosunmu had another strong performance with 15 points. Up next the Illini have another road game against the 20th ranked Wisconsin Badgers. Hopefully the Illini will be able to keep their momentum up and get another win against a ranked opponent. The rest of the season isn't too bad for the Illini, they play the Penn State twice who is the last ranked team in the Big Ten currently. They also play Northwestern and Indiana who are both ranked below the Illini in the Big Ten. The most challenging game left this season will be against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Boilermakers are ranked 12th in the nation and 3rd in the Big Ten. If the Illini are able to keep up the way they are playing right now they might be able to get another signature win for the season. As long as the Illini keep playing the way they are playing currently, they might be able to make a run in the Big Ten tournament. There is an extremely small chance that the Illini could make it to the NCAA tournament this year, the team would likely have to win all their games for the rest of the season. It is highly unlikely that will happen, but as an Illini fan you always have to hope for miracles.
1 Comment
Max Cook
2/21/2019 07:32:17 am
The fighting Illini have definitely clicked as a team and have started to play up to their potential. I think it is possible for the Illini to win the rest of their Big Ten games, except for the Purdue Boilermakers. In my opinion, Purdue is unstoppable at home. They have laid into teams while at home, and their record and standing would be so much better if they could play better on the road. With the fighting Illini showing this much talent at this point in the season, it makes me very optimistic for next year. I don't see anyway that we make the NCAA tournament this year but next year we are going to be serious contenders.
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