Game Thread: Illinois vs Houston

[Dan]

NCAA Tournament - Round of 32 - Pittsburgh, PA

#4 Illinois vs #5 Houston
11:10am CT
Live Stats
CBS (Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Reggie Miller & Dana Jacobson)

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1505556859125702657

 

[skyIdub]

WIN!!

 

[BashCtIllini]

Church won't even be done before the game starts, who was in charge of scheduling here?

Wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[Illinifan74]

Question of the day:

How many times will Kofi be fouled VS how many will actually be called?

 

[The Galloping Ghost]

Give it all you got for 40 minutes. Be aggressive. Take and hit your open shots. Crash the boards. Play the most suffocating defensive the Cougs have seen all season. Get to the sweet sixteen.

 

[spillini]

Somebody please mute Reggie Miller’s mic without telling him

 

[PapaKvells]

Somebody please mute Reggie Miller’s mic without telling him

What? I think he’s a phenomenal Wendy’s spokesperson.

 

[Calvin]

ESPN analytics give Illinois a 29% chance of the win. Hate to say it, but that seems about right.

 

[IlliniKat91]

ESPN analytics give Illinois a 29% chance of the win. Hate to say it, but that seems about right.

Fair. But there's a reason why they make you actually play the games.

 

[HailtotheChief]

Today to win we need much better shooting from Trent, Belo, the guards than we have seen over the last 4 or 5 games.
Plus rebound and hit FTs

 

[Calvin]

..and Kenpom has Houston #2 now that Baylor bowed out. Yikes. Interestingly, Houston is only slightly better in his analytics in both offense and defense, but both combined make them roughly 7 ½ point favorites.

Said it before, but my only hope is that they play to win. They looked so tentative against Chattanooga and it seemed to really hurt them.

 

[The Galloping Ghost]

ESPN analytics give Illinois a 29% chance of the win. Hate to say it, but that seems about right.

I counter you a more important stat:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1505561884023472131

 

[GallopingGhost]

I’m ride or die with this team. Does it mean I always expect or predict a win? No, but I expect us to play hard, tough defense, grab some rebounds.

This isn’t Gonzaga, a win isn’t impossible.

 

[HailtotheChief]

ESPN analytics give Illinois a 29% chance of the win. Hate to say it, but that seems about right.

I don't buy in to that today. The best team Houston played all year was Wisconsin and they lost. They did play very well vs Memphis but they were struggling badly early in. I think if Trent and Belo hit shots better than they have the past few we win. Otherwise it could be tough

 

[NorthShoreIllini]

If nothing else after 17 years of “suffering” we deserve to be on the right side of an upset when it matters the most. ILL

 

[foby]

ESPN analytics give Illinois a 29% chance of the win. Hate to say it, but that seems about right.

This guy agrees

 

[SemperFiIllini]

ESPN analytics give Illinois a 29% chance of the win. Hate to say it, but that seems about right.

Giving them a better chance than I give him, being honest. I just don't think we match-up well...would love to be wrong but I see a double digit loss

 

[skyIdub]

It's actually pretty simple today. Keep Houston off the offensive glass. If we rebound today we win.

I'm looking at you DMFW, Curbelo, CoHawk. It can't just be Kofi today. Their guards will over commit...and if we rebound we can run.

Give me some transition with Curbelo, CoHawk, and sprinkle in some RJ. I believe we will need him and Luke on the glass today.

 

[Calvin]

I don't buy in to that today. The best team Houston played all year was Wisconsin and they lost. They did play very well vs Memphis but they were struggling badly early in. I think if Trent and Belo hit shots better than they have the past few we win. Otherwise it could be tough

You may be right. Despite their good analytics, they were 1-4 in Q1 games (10-1 in Q2 though).

 

[1LL1NO1S]

I'm hoping to see more bodies than just kofi going for offensive rebounds. It's infuriating seeing 4 players at the half court line after a shot.

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1505566918681452553

 

[altgeld88]

It's pretty simple every time a game tips off.

 

[Oldskoolkoach]

Question of the day:

How many times will Kofi be fouled VS how many will actually be called?

14-6

 

[TCTORNADO]

Vegas line has moved to Illinois +3.5