Illinois 76, VCU 55 Postgame

[Curbelo Fanboy]

I’ve been critical of Brad at times but it was a well coached effort tonight. Really worked to get ball inside pretty consistently. Reflected in only 24 3 attempts vs the usual 35 to 40. Keep on keeping on.

 

[TheodoreRex]

Fan-freakin-tastic game tonight ya'll- sweet 16, let's go beat Houston!

 

[Ramrod2010]

Little anxious there for about five minutes in the first half. But otherwise a very, very good effort and fairly anticlimactic win.

Best part of the team continues to be the versatility creating mismatches in the matchups. No one guy needs to win the night every time out.

 

[Dan]

Anyone know what the shoes are for that Andrej gave to Coach is about? After the water celebrations.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035552779402355166

 

[WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?]

North Carolina is by far and away the better team. Not even close.

Big bracket bust in our favor.

 

[pruman91]

Sweet Sixteen bound ,again................I love it . especially how the tide turned in the second half into an Illini tsunami flooding the court with slam dunks and excellent offensive and defensive play by this special Illini squad !!!!!!!!

I found out right after the game ended that my bestest bud from my childhood was in the hospital with AFIB problems again so I called him and he is getting a lot of fluids and expects to be in the hospital for the next few days......praying for him big time right now.........

My emotions are happy for the beloved's great win and my bud's problems so I will close for now and post more tomorrow.........

enjoy this win Illini Nation and hope for a few more wins in this special season...................

 

[WyattEarp]

I’ve been critical of Brad at times but it was a well coached effort tonight. Really worked to get ball inside pretty consistently. Reflected in only 24 3 attempts vs the usual 35 to 40. Keep on keeping on.

Yes…yes it truly was.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

I wonder what the VCU board is like after the game?

Appreciative of a great season. They won their conference tournament championship, an NCAA Tournament birth, a season defining win vs Carolina and some good young players to work with. Every fan base isn't filled with with crazies that bring pink slips to every game.

 

[illinifan1987]

I love seeing the other Goat GIF's for Keaton...

 

[PapaKvells]

Keaton is still clearly dealing with some injury stuff. Love that Andrej and Tomi have stepped up to fill some of the void. Let’s go get another roadkill on Thursday

Honestly, he looks like he’s just dealing with physical defenders. I think he gets hacked a lot but am admittedly biased. But defenders definitely got the memo that you need to be physical with him.

 

[BigMuddyMonster]

The Raftery “Take me to the Balkans, please!” call was pure gold.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

Not just good, best player on the floor IMO

Drej was the best player on the floor. He single handedly stopped a significant VCU pushed and turned the entire game around. What did he have...11 in a row?

 

[MidwesternCowboy]

Yet again, they took care of business, even after yet another shaky 1st half. Another great win.

 

[illinifan1987]

We are good

This ride isn't over yet, baby! Only 4 more wins to go!

 

[ejam21]

I’ve been critical of Brad at times but it was a well coached effort tonight. Really worked to get ball inside pretty consistently. Reflected in only 24 3 attempts vs the usual 35 to 40. Keep on keeping on.

in 35 games, we've shot 35 or more 3s 10 times, and two of those were Overtime

 

[OB positive]

AiSlopdrej is whatever you want him to be. Or don't want him to be. Just whatever comes out of the thing

My wife calls him Ralph Macchio.

 

[illinifan1987]

OK. We all good with Brad and our team?

Beat Houston!

There's at least 1 Insider that should reply here...

 

[Thaillini22]

Assuming this isn’t sarcasm… you did not watch the first half lol

He probs just wasn't in the game thread.

 

[OB positive]

Shout out to Ben making a big difference with those 2 steals that put the game really out of reach. Also played some tough defense and rebounding throughout. Really unsung positive play today

I also think he blocked another shot down by the basket that they said nothing about.

 

[zentrails]

Was that hill at the end of that video Brad was talking to

"pssst Portal?" LOL

 

[mysterio2525]

One of you AI image guys please do the award scene at the end of Star Wars but our guys with MF medals

not yet. we just escaped tatooine.

next weekend we escape the death Star

weekend after that we destroy the death Star and get our trophy

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

Blamed the refs and their poor shooting

Sounds familiar. It's the losing team's anthem. They haven't gotten to our level unless they have a board that delivers the names of the refs anticipating problems.

 

[Bucktown]

A lot of talk of Andrej hitting the portal after the season due to disappointment with losing the starting role to Jake. The staff needs to make it a priority to assure him of a starting role, help him continue to develop, and bring him back as a key building block on next year's team. Losing Keaton and Bos will be tough, can't let Andrej move on too.

I thought he should have started the 2nd half. Stubborness there.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035532910585950482

Just gonna crop out the block?

 

[pruman91]

View attachment 48547

Total Team MF Effort.

Getting our seat at the Sweet Sixteen took contributions from all the heroes. But especially the Balkan Avengers. Lotta grownass man dunks… but also a lot of savvy defensive plays.

Gotta love how Tomi and Andrej are playing, right now. It’s nothin but carnage from here on out, but to cash in on our lotto ticket, we need those two showing up just like tonight and our shooters hot. Ben was also near perfect, this week.

And yooooo… Zvonimir’s coast to coast, block to glock! One of the greatest sequences of Illini tournament history.

I’m gonna savor this. This win is gonna make the whole of next week feel extra nice.

After these two wins, it’s absolutely rational to feel as high about this team as we have, all year. This has been one of the most impressive first weekends in our program’s history.