Pregame: Illinois at Michigan State, Saturday, February 7th, 7:00pm CT, FOX

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#253      
Vinegarben
Anybody think Izzo will bench Fears? He may not start him say 3-4 minutes in but he will definitely play him. It's all about wins for Tom! M
He does work refs and they will get all the close calls.
 
#254      
ugottabjoshinme
Chuck Nuggets said:
I'm just not feeling confident. Anyone else? Feels like a 5-10 point loss. MSU is a wounded animal backed into a corner. I think they are going to try to be extremely physical. I think they're going to be in our grills all game long. Night and day from Northwestern.

But I'll tell you what, if they pull this off, I will not feel this way the rest of the season. Mackey, Pinnacle, and Breslin?

Someone talk me into some confidence in our boys.
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I feel better about this game than I did going into Purdue and Nebraska. State is the weakest team of these three and they have a lot of distractions going on right now. And their top ranked defense hasn't been playing like a top ranked defense the past few weeks, unlike Nebraska's. Could we lose, of course. Winning all your road games is really hard. But we can absolutely win this game they way we've been playing.
 
#256      
Grange Grover
A good ole fashioned Pizza Hut parking lot game!!! Sign me up. Let’s see how tough we are

IMG_7294.jpeg
 
#257      
HereSoIDontGetFined
I believe this is the last game of the season where KenPom rates us as the underdog. But after MSU's last game, I think maybe that should change.

Only being a 1.5-point dog means we would be favored even in a neutral court.
 
#258      
rdk573
Chuck Nuggets said:
I'm just not feeling confident. Anyone else? Feels like a 5-10 point loss. MSU is a wounded animal backed into a corner. I think they are going to try to be extremely physical. I think they're going to be in our grills all game long. Night and day from Northwestern.

But I'll tell you what, if they pull this off, I will not feel this way the rest of the season. Mackey, Pinnacle, and Breslin?

Someone talk me into some confidence in our boys.
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MSU tends to have a slump at some point in their season and we may be catching them in their "slump" and with the negative press on Fears, I actually feel we could easily win by 10+ points (not saying its a given)..
 
#260      
goillini30
RockfordIllini said:
To me this game really comes down to rebounding and transition which are really one and the same.

We send 4 to the glass which allows us to get a huge % of our misses back. However, it also leaves us susceptible to transition. Sparty is a very good defensive rebounding team and is also good in transition. If they hold us to a 25% or under offensive rebounding rate, chances are they get a lot of transition points and have a good chance to win.

I don’t think they can score in the half court consistently enough to beat us. If we make enough shots, we win. If we get enough of our misses back, we win. If we don’t do enough of either, it’s a game and we likely lose.
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Here's a video with a part about how our offensive rebounding philosophy also helps to limit teams' transition opportunities:

 
#261      
Illiniguy13
Chuck Nuggets said:
I'm just not feeling confident. Anyone else? Feels like a 5-10 point loss. MSU is a wounded animal backed into a corner. I think they are going to try to be extremely physical. I think they're going to be in our grills all game long. Night and day from Northwestern.

But I'll tell you what, if they pull this off, I will not feel this way the rest of the season. Mackey, Pinnacle, and Breslin?

Someone talk me into some confidence in our boys.
Click to expand...
It shouldn't shock anybody if MSU pulls out a tough win at Breslin... I also wouldn't be surprised if we blow their doors off 🤷‍♂️ I think we're a bad matchup for MSU. Their defense has looked vulnerable over the last few games, and we’re one of the few teams that can match them on the boards. I expect Izzo to have his boys ready, and we’ll see a spirited effort that keeps it competitive, but ultimately I think they simply have too many warts offensively to keep pace over the full 40.
 
#263      
Illinicpa14
not saying MSU can’t win, I just think they are closer to a top 15-20 team then top 10 and I’ll take the chances.

Beat Arkansas by 3 at Breslin with Ark shooting 25% from 3 and 2 freshmen stars playing their first road game.

Throttled a Kentucky team with talent but is closer to a 7-10 seed and overhyped.

Beat UNC handidly with UNC shooting 17% from 3.

Nice big win over Iowa they dominated the boards at home. Some nice 15 point wins over mid tier big ten teams. I feel their best game is losing to Duke or Nebraska close.

Those big wins 2+ months ago which they had a leg up with a veteran PG in his system already. Short of us not hitting shots or one of their non shooters hitting 4-5 of them, I just don’t see the extra gear that MSU.
 
#265      
Ga65
Believe we have a far superior team but MSU has always been a tough game for us. Izzo owning the officials at home and their dirty play has been a problem for us. However their losing the last two games is only an advantage the first ew minutes. They will be charged but if we start quickly, that turns to pressure.on them. Also believe this team is by far the toughest team we’ve had in two decades. The twins, Mirk, and Jake will match anyone and Andrej and Keaton are quiet assassins. My worry is someone getting hurt.
 
#268      
jrichisamazing
RockfordIllini said:
To me this game really comes down to rebounding and transition which are really one and the same.

We send 4 to the glass which allows us to get a huge % of our misses back. However, it also leaves us susceptible to transition. Sparty is a very good defensive rebounding team and is also good in transition. If they hold us to a 25% or under offensive rebounding rate, chances are they get a lot of transition points and have a good chance to win.

I don’t think they can score in the half court consistently enough to beat us. If we make enough shots, we win. If we get enough of our misses back, we win. If we don’t do enough of either, it’s a game and we likely lose.
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We really haven't been tested much this year with teams that like to push. Purdue, Iowa, and Nebraska all like to play in the half court. Same with UConn. Alabama likes to play fast but that game was before we started to slow way down.

It will be very interesting, if MSU does try to play fast, to see how we handle it.
 
#272      
BWBW
Predictions:

We win, they lose.
Both teams draw blood.
There are ejections, deserved by the MSU player but not the Illini player.
There are no handshakes at the end of the game.
 
#275      
okrush
ugottabjoshinme said:
I feel better about this game than I did going into Purdue and Nebraska. State is the weakest team of these three and they have a lot of distractions going on right now. And their top ranked defense hasn't been playing like a top ranked defense the past few weeks, unlike Nebraska's. Could we lose, of course. Winning all your road games is really hard. But we can absolutely win this game they way we've been playing.
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I’m only worried about some weird reffing or fouling situation. Like last years sensitive/phantom foul calling against Kasparas or the 2021 employment of Jordan rules against Kofi and Ayo. I think that’s the only way we lose. Msu just isn’t close to as deep or talented right now otherwise—-especially after Ugochukwu went out.
 
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