NCAA March Madness on Demand

According to IlliniHQ, they have sold 6400 seats. Somewhere during the day, when they realized that more than 2,200 people wanted reserved seats (A-capacity), they magically inserted a line that there would be reserved seats in A AND B section. I'm pretty irritated with the ticket office and the I-fund right now. I was online at 5AM yesterday ordering what I thought were 8 A-section seats at $25 apiece. Now I've got 8 B-section seats, 10 rows up, for that same amount of money.

I understand why they would do this, but they should have just expected more than 2,200 to want reserved seating and created reserved price points for A&B section. I feel like this was a classic bait and switch. Just waiting until 9AM so I can call to voice my complaints.

IlliniWood

Returning home doesn't guarantee anything for Illinois.

The Illini lost their last three games in Assembly Hall, including a two-pointer to Minnesota that probably cost Illinois a spot in the NCAA tournament. When the top-seeded Illini (20-14) play host to fourth-seeded Kent State (24-9) in the second round of the NIT at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPNU), Illinois coach Bruce Weber will remind his team about the 69-63 overtime victory over Kent State last season in the South Padre Invitational semifinals.

Supinie

Ticket sales for Monday's NIT game went better than expected Thursday. About 6,400 tickets were sold, including 4,200 reserved seats in A and B sections. A Section is sold out. Top-seeded Illinois hosts fourth-seeded Kent State in the second round at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPNU).

illinihq.com

NCAA March Madness on Demand

Wearing white as the bracket's top seed but playing a road game because of a scheduling conflict at Assembly Hall, Illinois found a "shock treatment" from a standing-room-only crowd of 4,423. The throng gave this the feel of something special, even if it's not the real March Madness, in the intense up-close-and-personal atmosphere of a high school sectional final against the eighth-seeded Seawolves.

"You have to get to New York to get over what happened," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "You dream of the NCAA. At least we still get to play. It might be better we go on the road. It might be a jump start, a shock treatment to get the juices going. Once you get going with the crowd and the noise, now you're fighting for your life."

Supinie

"Hopefully we can get there and make some noise like Penn State did last year," junior Mike Davis said.

Demetri McCamey came oh-so-close to the third triple-double in program history (16 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists). Davis had 15 of his 17 points before intermission. Mike Tisdale had 15, including a key three-pointer scored on an inbounds play that put Illinois ahead 68-59 with 1:29 left. D.J. Richardson added 16, 12 of which came on three-pointers.

"It was crazy, just the packed gym, like a high school, people right behind you like they could basically touch you," McCamey said.

Klee

The more i think about this game, the better i feel about our performance. I don't doubt for a second that had the early season Illini played, we would have lost in a big way. Most knew it would be tight and the vegas spread reflected that. The atmosphere was as jacked up as it was billed to be and more. The SB players did about everything possible, they played with energy and fire and shot a decent percentage, that is just the type of game we lost early in the season.

Yes, Illinois should have won by 20, but it's not like they were dominated in all aspects of the game, in fact it was the other way around. We shot better 52-40, we rebounded better 33-21 and we shared the ball better 17-11.

AK Illini

By keeping basketball expenses at a paltry $4.8 million (second lowest of any team in a major conference to appear on our list), the Fighting Illini boosted their profit by 9% last year.

forbes.com

Klee

"These big time teams don't travel," Pikiell said, noting the last school from a major conference to play at Stony Brook was during the 2006-07 season when Jay Wright's Villanova squad visited. "We got a Big Ten team in our gym in the postseason."

"It's awesome," he said.

sbindependent.org

Perhaps the easiest way to describe a Stony Brook team that hasn't appeared on national TV: think Western Kentucky 2009, on a smaller scale. Pikiell plays four strong, quick guards that prefer hard drives to the hoop over deep bombs. (Even though Stony Brook led the America East in three-point field goal percentage in conference games.) "I have some New York City guards, guys that get to the basket," said Pikiell, a former UConn team captain that teaches the same aggressive mentality as coach Jim Calhoun.

Klee

A win would return Illinois to the Hall, where it would host a second round game vs. the Kent State-Tulsa winner Monday and a third-round game on March 24 if the Illini keep advancing.

Madison Square Garden, just down the Long Island Expressway and across the Midtown Bridge in Manhattan from Stony Brook, hosts the NIT semifinals and finals. Connecticut and North Carolina are also in the NIT after unusual sub-par seasons. Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State are the other No. 1 seeds.

"This is a challenge to really get going into next season," Weber said. "We have an opportunity to play for a championship, get five extra games, to continue what we did in the Big Ten Tournament and lead up into greater success next year. You basically have the majority of the guys back who play a lot of the minutes. This is almost like a preseason tournament for next season."

Supinie

Furthermore, we are once again on record saying that Robinson's 7'0 center and University Of Illinois recruit Meyers Leonard is the best big man that the state of Illinois has seen from the high school ranks since Darius Miles (and yes, better than Thornwood's Eddy Curry). Leonard was spectacular in leading Robinson to a 64-61 victory over Hales and a spot in the 2A state championship game. He finished with a double-double, including 19 points and 14 rebounds. Anyone doubting how active Leonard is every second that he is on the floor needs to look no further than the fact that he went to the free throw line 16 times in the Hales contest. In addition, he is as athletic as any front court player that the state has seen during this decade.

ilprepbullseye

I Fund/season-ticket holders can buy A-section tickets ($25) from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday.

General admission tickets ($15) for B, C section on sale to general public from 9-5 Thursday.

Student tickets go for $10 with a student ID card. Parking: $5.

PKlee_IlliniHQ

Tate

The school hastily prepared the larger arena for play after America East officials informed Stony Brook a bigger facility was needed for the conference tournament championship game.

"We're real excited," Pikiell said. "The students are excited. We're selling a lot of tickets right now."

The Seawolves lost in the conference tournament semifinals to preseason favorite Boston University. But against Illinois, Stony Brook will play in the larger arena for the first time in two seasons.

A sellout is expected.

Supinie