Pregame: Illinois vs Iowa, Saturday, March 28th, 5:09pm CT, TBS

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#501      
hoopsfan47
Second place is 1st loser said:
Clemson was a 50/50 game from the beginning.

As some on this board would say, Florida was playing with their food in the first half, then with about 12 minutes to go, turned on the jets, blew by and took a lead. HOWEVER, when you play around and the game is within two possessions with 4 to go..... anything an happen. Florida went out there with a chance to ice it and missed free throws and the "anything that can happen"..... happened.

They were in a track meet with Nebraska and Nebraska went completely south. They simply couldn't make anything. THAT is what worries me. It's not Iowa that concerns me. It's our propensity to fall in love with the three and go 5 for 29, when we have a clear advantage at just about every position on the floor.
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This is always the biggest determining factor at this level. You have to play smart and hit shots....from the line, the lane, and the arc. No matter what your history is, when the clock winds down, the game starts getting played between the ears. The bounces cannot be predicted and an eighth of an inch determines whether the ball goes in or rolls out. The best way to fight those is to play smart, make good decisions, and build a double digit lead...then play smarter. If the Illini can use their energy and skills wisely...we win. If not, anything can happen....but it will not be easy in my estimation. Both teams can shoot and play hard and fast. My hope is that fate will favor the Illini.

AS, Wagler, Mirk, and BAM will lead the offense while BAM and Z anchor what I hope is another all out defensive efforts. 40 min. of that is a huge ask for our guys, but they just did it....so do it again!!
 
#502      
RabidDawgClassic
The Great Cougartown Robbery 2.jpg
 
#505      
JJE
We had some real lapses staying focused during the season, that cost us big time.

However, this team has entered tournament mode with a whole new level of focus. If they continue to stay locked in, they have a real shot at winning this whole thing.

I want this team in the Final Four real bad.
 
#511      
Altuve27
lstewart53x3 said:
If you didn’t have reason enough to root for the Illini:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2037927499292680577
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Oh yeah???? Well I called this guy for Illini backup:
Wwe Wrestler GIF by USA Network

Second place is 1st loser said:
If we play well for 40, not necessarily GREAT, but well.....we win by double digits.

We can't have a 6 for 31 night from three, we can't let dribble drive suck us in for uncontested threes, shoot reasonably well from the line(75%) and rebound the ball per usual.

Then, it comes down to guys just playing well. This is a FAR less athletic team than we've played this last two games. It's not close. This should be a game where Wagler should thrive. Drej should thrive. Our bigs should thrive. They don't have the ultra quick guards that can give us fits. They don't have the bouncy, physical bigs that give us fits. We are a LOT more talented than they are.

What does concern me is Sturtz getting on a heater, them gaining momentum and we're getting rained on. The flip side is we have the potential to do the exact same thing.

I feel like there's no middle ground on this one.

It's either:

Illinois 91
Iowa. 71

Or we have a Nebraska(at home) type game and as has been our trend....can't close games out with free throws, can't get critical rebounds, etc

Iowa. 77
Illinois. 74

They cannot beat us, but we can beat us. We've been home free in games and everything unravels and unravels quickly. It's never a slow leak. It's a 10-2 run in 2 minutes.

I lean towards a comfortable Illinois win, but I'm fully prepared for multiple WTF stretches.
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We unquestionably want to avoid overtime.
 
#512      
jrock
Iowa is at absolute peak right now. This will be a dogfight down to the wire. Need to play our A game. Anything less and we can go home easily.
 
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