Has this not been a notable last couple of weeks for Illinois basketball?

Consider all the positives that we've seen of late:

* Seniors, most notably Mike Davis, hunker down and work harder
* Sam Maniscalco opts for Illinois
* Illinois receives NCAA bid and #9 seed
* Team plays hard and with aggression and clubs Kruger led UNLV
* Tennessee, meanwhile, goes out with a whimper
* Illini meet #1 Kansas and play respectably
* Pearl gets walking papers (Woohoo!)

OrangeFever