Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I love seeing stats like like this to recontextualize everything and contrast it with my “gut feeling” as a fan just watching. Of course, I think the truth involves a combination!
Pregame: Illinois at Penn State, Wednesday, February 21st, 5:30pm CT, BTN
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Based on what I can find online, it seems to be a way to appease some within the Penn State fan base. While the Bryce Jordan Center is a perfectly good arena, a lot of the Penn State fans don't like how far some of the seats are from the court and what the arena's atmosphere is like during games. While the Rec Hall is a decent enough venue, it hasn't hosted a men's major conference game like this since 1996 and would have to undergo pretty significant upgrades to host games again on a regular basis.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I hate that this is a gimmick game for PSU.
I don't care if we play them on Venus...this should be a comfortable(not blowout) win.
Is Cleary going to play? Have to stop Ace
Maybe a small gym is exactly the prescription that Goode needs to get his 3 point stroke back.
Illinois by 15+
I think we win, but you're calling for a beat down. Would love to see it.
We should win this game. Penn State has got one coming.
blackdog
- Champaign
One the other side though, just crazy how good the offense has been.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
2005 got 10/10 looks all the time by being such amazing passers and in sync with each other in the offense. Pretty to watch.
But this team so long as nobody turns it over or chucks up something stupid it's an 8/10 look every time down the floor. Really hard to play against for 40 minutes.
Absolutely!
Our offense is the 23rd best offense since KenPom started doing his thing in 2002. It's championship caliber.
That's why I keep picking on the defense. I'm not trying to be negative or whatever, but I'd hate to see a perfectly good offense go to waste because we can't guard anyone.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Exactly. And without looking at the numbers, use a game like at Rutgers where the defense was there … we looked unstoppable.
Clearly is done with Penn State most likely
Clary?
And that's crazy. Quick search says he got hurt and came back and was coming off the bench? Is he that butt hurt that he came off the bench that he's outta there?!
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I saw the national champion PSU women defeat the Illini in volleyball in RecHall in Sept. 2008, immediately before the Illini played PSU in football that evening. I remember thinking to myself "Thank goodness the Illini don't ever have to play basketball here. If PSU had a halfway decent team, and the fans packed this place, this arena would be an absolute nightmare for a visiting team."
All season long since I learned we were playing here in Feb this game has worried me. The guys have got to put the MD win in the trunk, summon focus, and approach this one with furrrrrrious anger. Take the crowd out of it from the outset, as they did at the RAC in December jumping out to a 14-2 lead.
Packing a small, historical gym to the rafters with their own fans, rather than having a 1/2 empty, charmless arena against a ranked team with traveling fans is a pretty smart move on their part. As Maryland showed last night, even the most fickle and disloyal fans will turn out when facing a ranked in-conference rival.
blackdog
- Champaign
True, we don't want to be Iowa. Offense alone is not going to get the job done in March. The good thing is we know this team is capable of playing the kind of defense they need to unlike Iowa. The potential is there just need the execution.
How we feeling about our D? I know we held UMD to 34% shooting in 2nd half, which was an improvement, but we fouled a ton and we also had the gift of UMD being the worst shooting team in the conference. All in all, I was hoping to not see us give up 80 to a sub 150 offense.
PSU could be a tough guard with us as they have 2 really good, shifty, quick smaller guards. Offensively Im sure we'll see a lot of booty ball, but covering their guys might be a challenge. In my opinion, our D really needs to just be good enough for us by March, but that would be playing at a top ~50ish level rathe than the 95ish level we've played at the past 6-7 weeks.
PSU could be a tough guard with us as they have 2 really good, shifty, quick smaller guards. Offensively Im sure we'll see a lot of booty ball, but covering their guys might be a challenge. In my opinion, our D really needs to just be good enough for us by March, but that would be playing at a top ~50ish level rathe than the 95ish level we've played at the past 6-7 weeks.
Not gonna lie, the venue change does concern me. I'm glad we have some motivation in this one after last year. As an Illini fan, I'm always a little concerned, especially on the road, but I think we are the much better team and will pull this one out fairly comfortably, by about 10 or so.
There are still tickets available if anyone can make the trip. SeatGeek apparently can’t sell them, but StubHub has seats in several sections.
Illinois at Penn State - Stub Hub
Edit: SeatGeek has them now, too.
SeatGeek - Illini at PSU
Illinois at Penn State - Stub Hub
Edit: SeatGeek has them now, too.
SeatGeek - Illini at PSU
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Couple of weeks ago.
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