Pregame: Illinois vs UConn, Saturday, April 4th, 5:09pm CT, TBS

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#401      
aaeismacgychel
So, let me get this straight. We get to try and avenge our 2024 Elite 8 loss to UCONN, and if we were to win that, we would either have the opportunity to get revenge for the '89 Final Four and send Michigan home crying. Or we get the ULTIMATE best of 3 tournament rubber match with Arizona where winner takes all?

To just have these possibilities in front of us... Wow, just wow... Truly grateful for this team. It's right there in front of us, those nightmares under our beds and closets. It's time to slay them once and for all. Two more games. Play your hearts out, leave nothing, and live forever. Let's go!!!
 
#402      
WizardBill
Would have been hilarious if that ref would have given him a T in that situation. What a psycho.
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WHY DID he not??? Had I been reffing then, I would have gotten him with one for sure, and probably ejected him. NEVER touch an official. Period. EVER. He should have been fined by the NCAA. NEVER touch an official.
 
#403      
aaeismacgychel
Illinidrew said:
Would have been hilarious if that ref would have given him a T in that situation. What a psycho.
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While the ref obviously knew the situation, could you imagine the ref calling the technicals for the players leaving the bench and entering the floor? Clock never hit zero. If Duke really had the refs in their pocket, they could've made that call. People would be pissed, but hard to argue it would have been the right call and would go down as one of the greatest blunders in NCAA history.
 
#404      
Poe's Law
kmunt09 said:
I lean after, only because if Michigan loses, I would expect the prices to go down. Michigan would travel well, and drive up prices if they advance.

Illinois-Arizona would likely be the cheapest situation for Illini fans.
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Also Michigan fans are more likely to have driven in, making it an easier decision to recover what they can on the ticket cancel a hotel room if possible, and head home.

Arizona fans will be stuck waiting for a flight they may not be able to change and more likely to just go to the game anyway rather than find something else to do in town on Monday night.
 
#405      
kyillinifan
After the UConn shot several of the players from Conn ran onto the floor. I heard the Dook radio saying that should be a tech. Now did Dook call time out before they ran onto the court? Good point. No way were the refs going to t up conn.
 
#406      
NarrowJ
Iloveorangekoolaid said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2038498341298844010

Hurley is insane. Wasn’t sure if it was real until I saw this version of the video…

https://twitter.com/x/status/2038632271113068575

Basically going forehead to forehead with a ref with time still on the clock…
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I'm no expert but it looks like he was trying to have conehead sex with the ref

FlDV.gif
 
#408      
Fighter of the Nightman
illini510 said:
You kinda have to if your son is an assistant coach. He's still been wearing the Cubs cap though
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My sister hypothesized if he would do something characteristically goofy and wear some sort of split Illini / UConn shirt, haha. I'm sure he will just support his son (as is totally understandable ... he'll absolutely be rooting for us hard on Monday if we were to win!), but that would be kind of awesome. I will be curious to hear any answers he might give to the media this week if asked, given he was such a public and memorable component of our last Final Four run!
 
#409      
Todd99
skyIdub said:
So, everyone do with this what you will.

It is very obviously serious juju that I have been allowed to wield with limited knowledge and control this season.

I did not post it after the Wisconsin loss in the tourney because it was weird and still fresh. And there was lots of doubt about this team.

But for the second time this season, I had called off of work to watch the Illini play basketball against Wisconsin.

So, twice, I’ve eschewed my responsibilities to enjoy this team.

Twice they have lost.
In overtime.
To Wisconsin.

I am scheduled to go to work all weekend.

I am going to work this weekend.
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We all knew Wisconsin sucked, there had to be another reason why we lost...now we know :LOL:
 
#410      
CleverHandle1
TheodoreRex said:
Something I've really thought about- I owe an apology to Andrej- is inconsistency this season has really hurt us at times. It felt like it was good Andrej about every 1/3 games.
His consistency in the tournament has been outstanding- including against Wisconsin. And the area he's improve the most, IMO, is actually defensively. It's almost night and day- especially his ball screen defense.
At this point- I really do want this version of Andrej back.
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I hear you, but some of the criticism was fair in my opinion.

We still need to nitpick at times. I love getting Indy's perspective when he's upset. His points are very valid; he's close to the program. And, at times, adjustments are made.

And for those who never criticize a player? That's fine. But, let's not jump on those who have a right to criticize, is all.
 
#412      
AnnaMay
Karaban is a problem for us. The way he comes around screens and pops is a bit Sandfort(ish). He hits big shots the the last time we played, Ball had a whale of a game. We have to figure out the perimeter.
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If smart, go zone
 
#414      
Godard
Michigan beating US for a natty would be awful.
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Except we would be playing for the national championship and a Big Ten team would definitely win it. Silver linings.
 
#416      
Mobi
MidwesternCowboy said:
It's not a certainty that we win this game at all. Far from it. But let's say that we do. Let's say that we pull it off and beat UConn.

Would you rather face Michigan or Arizona for the title?

Personally, I'd take Arizona in a heartbeat. Michigan is the only team all year that made us look like we didn't even belong. Straight-up domination. Have to admit that that game made me terrified of having to face them, again. I know Arizona would hardly be any easier, but I'd take the unknown over what we already saw.
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This is a revenge tour. We started out with Frans' UPenn as a warm up. I don't know why VCU happened but Then we beat Samscum revenging the IDKWTI thing. For some divine reason, we played Iowa in front of Pearl when he was forced to say good things about us. Now we get UConn and they will be the next casualty. Even though I wanted AZ, I think we are meant to play Micheegan in the championship game. We will see.
 
#417      
Dee_4_Three_83
number1IlliniFan said:
Look at this game summary regarding minutes from our game at MSG in November. We are a completely different team from that time. Not sure how different UConn might be vs then.
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UConn had two players with significantly more minutes for Duke last night than when we played them.
1. Tarris Reid (he was in foul trouble against us the first time)
2. Braylon Mullins (only played 10 minutes last time, Freshmen early in season like Wagler)

It looks like Jaylin Stewart and Eric Reibe have lost a lot of minutes since we last played them. Malachi Smith is their 6th man.

Overall, two very even teams. It's a toss up. Play the way we are capable, have an B overall or better game and we will have a chance. I think we will need an A game if we move on for AZ/Mich
 
#418      
IlliniwekKDR
skyIdub said:
So, everyone do with this what you will.

It is very obviously serious juju that I have been allowed to wield with limited knowledge and control this season.

I did not post it after the Wisconsin loss in the tourney because it was weird and still fresh. And there was lots of doubt about this team.

But for the second time this season, I had called off of work to watch the Illini play basketball against Wisconsin.

So, twice, I’ve eschewed my responsibilities to enjoy this team.

Twice they have lost.
In overtime.
To Wisconsin.

I am scheduled to go to work all weekend.

I am going to work this weekend.
Click to expand...
John Cena Wwe GIF
 
#420      
RockfordIllini
So watching highlights of their last 2 games, it doesn’t look like they run a ton of actions for Mullins. He’s mainly out there as a floor spacer and oscillates between the corner and above the break depending on how the action is running. I think we can hide Mirk on him. It’s just a question of how much we want Mirk to help in the lane vs staying home. Even though he’s only 33% I’m inclined to tell Mirk to stay home and not let him get going from 3. Kid just hit the shot of his life, I’m sure he’s going to come into this game feeling good.

But I think it’s crucial we figure out how to keep Mirk on the floor. I think if he’s chasing Karaban around he will tire out, and I don’t think he has the foot speed to even do it. However, I don’t think Karaban can guard Mirk one on one in the post, and we should feast if they double.

Mirk vs Karaban is the matchup I have circled. Whichever team wins that matchup stands a good chance of winning IMO.
 
#425      
ptgrd23
www.espn.com

Florida 77-75 UConn (Mar 23, 2025) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Florida Gators vs. UConn Huskies NCAAM game, final score 77-75, from March 23, 2025 on ESPN.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Numbers lie - its not a streak if you exclude losses for arbitrary reasons.

UConn lost 2nd round last year in NCAA. They won 2 titles then went out early (like us last year)

The 18 game NCAA win streak is BS.

Must be an Ivy league grad who wrote this
 
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