Illini - Wisco
 

I'm gonna be courtside baby!

Hoping for another performance like that ass-blasting the Illini gave MSU last week. :)

watch out for harris my friend... he's been on a torrid streak as of late. Let me know if he looks as fast in person as he does on TV. That boy has some wheels. I hope Morley doesn't give you whiplash with his 'do whipping by. Oh,I also hope Dee plays better than he did last game against the Badgers otherwise the fightin' illini don't have a chance.

the Illini don't come and go based on Dee Brown, I'm afraid to tell you

There are at least 2 players on the team better, or at least more important to the Illini than Brown, so as long as he does alright on the defensive end, they'll be fine. :)

and btw, Morley sucks

Morley doesn't suck. He's streaky, but he doesn't suck. He's actually pretty quick underneath. You'll see when you're courtside..

Wisky by 10

you obviously didn't see MSU try to play in Champaign

Wow, a battle of two teams Northwestern beat. GO U NORTHWESTERN!

:)

While it would be nice for Dee to have a great game, I'm counting on Deron Williams to have a big game. I'm also sensing Nick Smith to have a good game.

I'll be interested to see how the Illini defend against Wisky this time around. A couple of weeks ago they couldn't do anything with Harris or Wilkinson (sp?) and were too stubborn/stupid to try a zone. The defense has tightened up considerably since that game, but I still would like to see them take a page from what the Mildcats did against both of these teams and mix in some zone. Obviously a huge game for both teams - I think they are both better than MSU this year.

Dude, if Illionis can barely beat Iowa at home, there's no way they'll beat Wisconsin...

Sometimes I really hate being a Hawkeye basketball fan.... is there a more inconsistant team in the Big Ten?

Yes but it's at Illinois. That's why I'm confident. They just kicked MSU's ass at home and after being beaten by Purdue at home I doubt they'll be letting anyone else do it again for awhile.

Does the back of the ticket have a binding contract forcing you to boo the refs after every single Illinois foul no matter how obvious. :)

It should be a great atmosphere - enjoy!

I know smith has some height but I have been anything but impressed every time that I have seen him play. He looks too ackward all the time. Oh well...

Smith isn't exactly the key component for the Illini. Deron Williams has been the main man this year - he has really improved his shot and aggressiveness going to the basket. After that Brown and Augustine are bigger contributors. Luther Head is the X-factor ... he goes for 2 points half the time and for 15 (on a couple of bombs and dunks) other games. The Illini win those games where he contributes.

Smith has made some clutch plays this year, although he is not a consistent player at all. I'm probably high in the rankings of the "Bash Smith" club but I have to give him his due for clutch free throw shooting and generally not being seven feet of worthless every game this season.

Man.. The game just started and it looks like everone's wearing RED! Ugh...

How is anyone supposed to watch this game?

Memo to Illinois: Home wears white.

everyone already knows my thought on illinois

Morley, 4 impressive points. Fade away, SWOOSH.

Remember the Badgers tend to be a horrible road team. Close game at the half.

I told ya. They are a completely different team on the road. Unbeatable at home, but average on the road.

It likely will all come down to Illinois at Purdue and Wisconsin at Mich. St. After this game, the Badgers, Illini, and Spartans will all have 3 losses in conference.

Huh, watching from afar I would agree that Wisky isn't the same team on the road that they are at home (who is?) but they have to have won their share of road games to bring home Big Ten titles the last couple of seasons.

I was happy with Illinois on the defensive end, even more so when they finally started to corral missed first shots. However, the offense completely lacked imagination. They just had Williams bail them out all night long. That was fantastic for tonight, but it is not sustainable. They likely will need to finish 4-1 down the stretch (with 3 road games) to get a tie for the conference title and tonight's offense won't get that done.

Williams should be First Team All-Big Ten, get much more notoriety than he has received up to this point, and have a chance at Big Ten POTY if Harris has a couple of more games like tonight.

look at all the excuses roll in!

I didn't see the game... had to check out the Dynamite Boy, Matchbook Romance, Fall Out Boy, Mest concert. I got home only to see that the Badgers blew one they could have had. Big ups to the Illini. This should be a very interesting finish to the Big Ten season!!!

Side note, aweful day for the Wisconsin teams in general... all 4 division 1 teams lose and the Bucks take one on the chin as well. Arghhhhh... All I can say is Wisco better pound St Cloud State tomorrow night!

Just FYI, the last two years, they went 3-5 and 4-4 on the road in the conference, as opposed to 8-0 both years at home. This year, they're 6-0 at home and 2-3 on the road.

road wins win the conference

t-30 minutes to the big ten conference tourney showdown. This will be an awesome game... and both should go far in the main tourney. Go WISCO!!!

ps... Devon Harris is the best player in the country. Watch and learn.

Boo!

The Illini are on a roll, and I'll take our chances with our outstanding backcourt. I agree though that both could make a good run in the actual NCAAs.

Here's to a good game.

More 'exciting' Big Ten basketball... :rolleyes:

Say what you want about the Big Ten being down, I still think the top 3 teams can hold their own against anybody in the country.

I guess we will just have to wait and see come tournament time.

Uh ok, so we got our asses whooped.

Still the Big Ten Champs though :)

Congrats Wisconsin!

You've no idea how hard that was to say. ;)

Just payback for last year, when the Badgers won the outright regular season crown, and Illinois took the tourney title. Hopefully this means the Badgers will be playing in Milwaukee this week. I think you're right, though, that the top 3 Big Ten teams could stick with pretty much anyone. You think any #1 or #2 seed is going to want to see a #7 or #8 MSU in their bracket???