Pregame: Illinois vs Houston, Thursday, March 26th, 9:05pm CT, TBS

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#302      
OrangeBlue98
Really surprised they put the Iowa-Nebraska game in the prime time slot over Illinois-Houston.
 
#308      
Bootheel Illini
Watching UCLA vs UCON. How can anyone play for either Cronin or Hurley. Cronin is just hateful to his players and assistants. And Hurley is so full of himself.
 
#310      
kyillinifan
Late start and a long day of waiting. We should have some Iowa and Nb fans in the stands. My ? Has Houston played in this arena this year?
 
#315      
BTM33
Looking at the match up, and with all caveats that we need to have our A game, shoot well, etc...

I like the match up, personel wise. I assume Kylan will get Flemings. We have the size to match up, but athletically it'll be an uphill battle.

1. I need a great game from Keaton, start to finish. He's felt the pressure from VCU, but now it'll be up a notch. Control the ball, tight handle, good decisions and I would like him to be aggressive with the 3 ball, he's an elite shooter, so take them. Jab, get to your spot and fire. We trust you.

2. I need Z to rebound and block shots, Z off the bench is critical to me because he will have 3 to 4 inches on anyone and can match up athletically. I want the nasty to come out, be mean, be physically and GRIP the basketball with 2 hands. Rebound, block shots and be 7'2. Lets go.

3. With Andrej for me, it's more defense for this game. These guys are gonna defend better then VCU and he may not get the looks offensively that he got last game. We are going to need his size and length on defense and rebounding. YES, there will be time for him to get downhill and put pressure on the rim, but I want him %100 locked in defensively because we are gonna need it.
 
#320      
Fly Illini Fly!
Illini1977 said:
I hate living in the west coast man. Sporting times are ridiculous
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Excuse Me What GIF by Bounce
 
#322      
PasadenaIllini
I’ve watched a number of Houston games living in Big 12 country. They are great defensively, and they are better offensively. But they still have a number of times where they go ice cold for long stretches. I’ve seen it too often where they not only can’t score, but they don’t look like they know what they are doing offensively.

I don’t know if Illinois can lock down defensively enough to get that type of cold spell. But if they can, Illinois can absolutely win.

Underwood also has to start talking about how Houston fouls so much. Need to take a page from the Lute Olson playbook and plant that seed early.
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The problem we're going to face against Houston is that we have a limited number of guys who can lock down defensively on the perimeter. BAM is great defensively. So is Keaton. But Houston has multiple guys in the game who are quick and can shoot. I love the effort that Jake Davis has given us this year, but he is not quick of foot. Neither in Andrej. Neither is Ben. Neither is Tomi. Neither is David. Which of our bigs is going to guard Cenac on the perimeter? We just have to hope it's a night he's not making shots.

I feel like this is a nightmarish matchup for us, and I'm surprised that we aren't a bigger underdog.
 
#324      
IlliniCaboose
Order of preference for my mental health.
1) Illinois defeats Iowa/ Nebraska
2) Houston defeats Iowa/ Nebraska
3) Iowa/ Nebraska defeats Houston
4) Iowa/ Nebraska defeats Illinois
 
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