Who cares at this point. Let’s just worry about stacking these wins.We will be ranked come Monday. Depending on this weekend games will depend where we will be my guess 22
Other stats that jump out: 10 blocks tonight - over half from MM, only 10 fouls -almost half from MMFive turnovers!!!!!!!! 13/16 at the line!!!! That is how you beat other B1G contenders!!!
Lot of heart and a really solid second half by a few guys. Seven solid players left on a roster of 15. \
Prayers for Sencire. Hope he and Luke are playing soon.
Make no mistake...Sparty is good and talented, but good defense made it a tough second half for them and gave the Illini a victory that seemed out of reach a couple of times.
Now, 10 in a row is possible before facing a murder's row to finish...hopefully with a full bench. Depth is paying off and frosh are growing up quickly. Dainja even hitting foul shots due to getting quiet with eyes and a better lift and release...but can still get better. What an amazing interior scorer he is and his hard work is paying off.
Sounds eerily similar to the wins over ucla , texas and somewhat similar to a couple of other wins we have had this year........Then we made coaching adjustments and the players executed those adjustments........I have learned to not give up on this years squad............What a fantastic Big Ten basketball game that was. Thought we were dead in the water down 7-9 with around 12 mins remaining. Then these guys just decided to win. Shut down Sparty cold. Just put the boot on their neck and kept it there. Loved it.
And Dain. How fast has he moved up the curve?! Dominant erupt tonight.
Thank you, guys. I said on Wednesday morning after the Nebraska romp that I planned on feeling that good again on Saturday morning.
Well, it's Saturday morning (here) and guess what?! I feel realllllly good. Gonna sleep, then gonna wake up and feel good some more on Saturday morning. In the meantime, will dream of Jayden Epps biding his time in traffic at the arc, then bursting through the hole for a layup that just broke Sparty. I like the cut of that young man's jib.
Mayer's game tonight will not go down in the annuls of history. But, that was a a phenomenal game. Maybe not Covfefe, but certainly phenomenal. Everybody says so.What an effing all around game from Mayer. He was incredible on both sides of the ball. Showed a ton of heart this game. If he plays like this game in game out, then he would be playing his way to a 1st round draft pick. Incredible job by him tonight. I cannot overstate that.
CoHawk I give a lot of credit to. He had an awful first half, but those final 15 minutes were incredible. The effort he showed, the defense, the tenacity on the offensive boards. He was a key reason we won this game. Consistency will always be his biggest issue, but that is the best version of CoHawk. In years past he would just sulk after his first half performance. This is a step forward mentally.
Major props to Epps. He really played hard on both ends of the floor. I also think that he was a great facilitator on the offensive end. Offense definitely had the best ball movement and best flow when he was on the court. Congrats to him, he's earned the starting spot.
Finally, Sencire, get better man. Hoping for a very quick recovery.
Sounds eerily similar to the wins over ucla , texas and somewhat similar to a couple of other wins we have had this year........Then we made coaching adjustments and the players executed those adjustments........I have learned to not give up on this years squad............
yeah , the misery game sucked.........yeah, the psu game sucked ........yeah , the mildcat game sucked ......But , it seems we have to suck sometimes to advance the needle of whats possible for this mix of veterans , portal transfers and freshman................Bu has been sculpting this batch of clay all year long and now it's beginning to take shape and that shape has endless possibilities......We also now have Luke , Moretti and Zach waiting in the wings with Luke for sure going to see action sooner rather than later.........
I'm all in guys.......I hope everyone else is all in , as it looks like the coaches and players are all in also..........JMHO............................
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Party like it's 2023......................................................It really really is...........................................
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Cheers Pru-ILL
Wait, wait, wait...I must be reading this wrong. Did Sencire Harris try and check himself back into the game? Like he just decided, f-it, I'm good? That would be one of the most baller moves ever. Also big thanks to Pru for once again providing a summary of the radio postgame interview. Much appreciatedView attachment 22823
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WHAT A GAME.............WHAT A COMEBACK BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI..............................
Down 9...........................
kept our nose to the grindstone.............
went with the hot hand all game long....
TSJ in the first half and Dain & MM in the second half.................
Epps with a veteran move for the bunny late in the game .....Henceforth , Mr. Epps is the "" Elite Bucket Meister "..................
As far as Sincere , they said on the radio broadcast that he went to the scorer's table to go back in but the bench called him back....would have been a rowdy robust cheer if he had gotten back in..............
Another game thread that had so much noise that I wish some would think before letting their emotions start typing that noise....We are NOT a bubble team, as a couple said in the thread....................
BU on the radio interview..........................
2 really good teams....................
we held them to 4 assists and zero 3 pointers...................
MM with 6 blocks.......................
we only had 5 turnovers.................................
Dain is an elite defender......was spectacular on offense....................
BU said it was a chess match from his seat........kept MM in with 4 fouls b/c he is a grad transfer and highly intelligent........
gotta have composure and battle through adversity
crowd was fantastic ...........best fans in the nation................
Sincere WAS at the scorers table and BU had to reign him in.................I love it...................
prior to BU , they interviewed MM on the radio and he credited BU abd staff numerous times for the adjustments they made .....there is zero bad vibes between BU and MM............period.............
I would like some more info on the alleged schuffle between MM and Skyy in prior game ....sounds like the addition by subtraction has sparked some of this turnaround by the Illini......BTW , that is on my humble opinion and nothing else inferred...........MM did say that Dain is his roommate ....baylor boys ...
records are as follows ................
Overall record...........
12-5
B$G record.........
3-3
Phoenix record..............
3-0
Onto the Barn in gooferland and another victory for the................
Gonads of Granite
Testicles of Titanium
Scrotum of Steel
FIGHTING ILLINI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Cruisin down Victory Highway and it feels so good......................
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Racing towards the promised land............hang on Illini Nation.....it will be bumpy at times.....it will be frustrating at times..............But it will be exciting all the time..................IT REALLY REALLY WILL.....................
Sometimes I think,"how did he do that?"And there's such an element of surprise to it all.
With Kofi there was a total inevitability to it. If he can get his feet to this spot, game over, two points, seen it a million times, head back down to the other end of the floor.
Dain catches it at 10-12 feet and anything could happen.
tge?
Be more specific?That game was extremely well coached on the Illini side. Wow.
the...................tge?
Other stats that jump out: 10 blocks tonight - over half from MM, only 10 fouls -almost half from MM
When you have a buncha wings who can score, use the depth is the lesson?