Pregame: Illinois vs Florida Atlantic, Tuesday, December 5th, 5:30pm CT, ESPN
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The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
Considering the carnage throughout the top 25, we should have a pretty nice ranking going into our marquee non-conference games. Time to show everyone we are the real deal.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
I watched a fair amount of FAU. I think this is a really interesting matchup. A lot of length between the two teams.
This’ll be a really fun game, they are a tough team, and so are we. Will be a high level game & the team that controls the glass & the turnover battle will win it. Top 10 matchup in the Garden, can’t ask for anything cooler than that!
Edit: only saying top 10 bc I think we’re one of the 10 best, regardless of ranking, and so are they
Edit: only saying top 10 bc I think we’re one of the 10 best, regardless of ranking, and so are they
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Curious what the crowd will be like on a Tuesday night … I’d expect a big Illini turnout for a weekend game (remember Vegas?? 
), but who knows on a Tuesday?
Let’s go get this W and take some pressure off as we travel to Knoxville and play with house money!
P.S. This one will be on my birthday, so uh … please win this one, boys!
), but who knows on a Tuesday?Let’s go get this W and take some pressure off as we travel to Knoxville and play with house money!
P.S. This one will be on my birthday, so uh … please win this one, boys!
If we move the ball like we did today, we will be tough to beat.
We guard and move the ball like we did today, we can take down anyone in the country.
Second game of the doubleheader is UConn/UNC, so while we'll have more than FAU, the Garden will mostly be empty with Husky fans making up most of the crowd.Curious what the crowd will be like on a Tuesday night … I’d expect a big Illini turnout for a weekend game (remember Vegas??
Let’s go get this W and take some pressure off as we travel to Knoxville and play with house money!
P.S. This one will be on my birthday, so uh … please win this one, boys!
FAU is legit. They match up with us at most positions . Will be interesting to see how FAU guards Hawkins though and how we guard Golden. Also, using early season stats, Rutgers is not a bad defense and our ball movement really worked well against them. Hope we can repeat that next game
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Anyone have a good scouting report on this FAU team?
I know nothing about them, except the fact that Torvik really likes them. They started the season ranked 22, and have risen to 7 despite losing to a bad Bryant team. Shows you how dominant they've been in their other games.
I know nothing about them, except the fact that Torvik really likes them. They started the season ranked 22, and have risen to 7 despite losing to a bad Bryant team. Shows you how dominant they've been in their other games.
It's the same team that made the Final 4 and won 35 games last season.
90.2% of minutes played and 90.0% of scoring return from 2022-23 roster
They're scary for how balanced they are on offense. They have a big Russian center and a couple of elite senior guards. They shoot threes well, but aren't over-reliant on it. Will be a great test for our defense in particular.FAU’s loss to Bryant has to be one of the most puzzling losses of any this season. They’ve pretty much destroyed everyone else. Did they have key players out that game or something?
No, they were 22.5 point favorites. They shot about as bad as they could possibly do and were surprisingly out-rebounded. I think just one of those weird games you chalk up to "it happens"
sacraig
- The desert
Bryant figured them out. We can, too.
There’s a reason we play in the Jimmy V all the time
They couldn’t make a shot if their families lives depended on it. Like a lot of open shots and layups they bricked
Crazy that if we win two this week we’ll be ~top 8 in the country.
Tall task. Lets get it.
Tall task. Lets get it.
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