INDIANAPOLIS — Fresh off a dominant, 90-68 win over Rutgers in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals, Illinois coach Brad Underwood was overjoyed about more than just the result of the game. The Illini, the tournament’s 2-seed, dispatched 7-seed Rutgers with ease. But for the first time all season, the team also got to play in front…
INDIANAPOLIS — The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team exploded out of the gate in yesterday’s Big Ten Tournament opener, scoring the first 17 points en route to a 67-42 drubbing of Wisconsin. Freshman guard Aaliyah Nye scored a career-high 17 points to lead Illinois — including four three-pointers. She credited the Illini coaching staff for…
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team shocked the college basketball world Tuesday night with a stunning 76-53 blowout over No. 2 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Ayo Dosunmu sat out his third-straight game under concussion protocol, allowing room for Trent Frazier to score 22 points and Andre Curbelo 17 from the guard…
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A season-long narrative of hot and cold quarters played out again for the Fighting Illini women’s basketball team in a 70-66 loss at Purdue Sunday afternoon. Outscored by a dozen points in the third, and trailing by 16 points in the fourth quarter, Illinois reeled off 13 straight, and then tied…
MADISON — The 5th-ranked Illini men’s basketball team withstood a one-man basket barrage in the final three minutes, holding on to beat #22 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center for the second straight year. The final was 74-69. Illinois, playing without an injured Ayo Dosunmu, sustained a double-digit lead through most of the game despite committing 20…
CHAMPAIGN — Beating the Big Ten’s worst team was a side story Thursday night for the Illini men’s basketball team. Ayo Dosunmu sat out on Senior Night after posting a video on Twitter showing a visibly swollen face. The Illini beat Nebraska 86-70 without him. Coach Brad Underwood said there’s no timetable for Dosunmu’s return,…
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The winning streak is over for the Illini men’s basketball team, but the 23-year streak of NCAA tournament berths is still alive for Michigan State. The Spartans out-toughed the Illini en route to an 81-72 win last night in East Lansing. Illini Trent Frazier said his team was expecting the blunt…
CHAMAPIGN — The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team provided another emotional rollercoaster for fans Tuesday night before putting Northwestern away 73-66. Ayo Dosunmu scored only seven points before draining a pair of three-pointers in the final 80 seconds to seal the win. He said he took what the defense gave him. “I was making the…
CHAMPAIGN — The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team gave another Jekyll and Hyde performance in yesterday’s 58-50 loss to the 15th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in Champaign. Eighteen first half fouls forced the Illini to rethink how they were defending. Coach Nancy Fahey said the analysis proved fruitful. “There’s a maneuver called a Masgov that you can…
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Illini men’s basketball team survived frigid temperatures and a feisty Nebraska squad to win its fifth straight Big Ten game Friday night in Lincoln. The overtime final was 77-72. Ayo Dosunmu scored 15 points during a stretch that spanned the final 3:21 of regulation and the first minute of overtime. Illinois…
CHAMPAIGN – The long, dark winter got a little brighter for the Illini women’s basketball team, when they earned their first Big Ten win of the season, 54-49 over Purdue Sunday at the State Farm Center. Aaliyah Nye drained a three-pointer with 41 seconds left to put Illinois ahead by a point. Then Eva Rubin…
CHAMPAIGN – Another ten-year losing streak fell by the wayside Saturday when the Illini men’s basketball team beat #19 Wisconsin 75-60 at the State Farm Center for the first time since 2011. It’s been so long that the building was then still known as the Assembly Hall. Kofi Cockburn tallied his thirteenth double-double of the…
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ayo Dosunmu went scoreless after halftime, and fouled out almost eight minutes before the final horn. But the Fighting Illini men’s basketball team managed without him in a 75-71 overtime win at Indiana last night. Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo took the reins in a game that saw 53 personal fouls, and…
MADISON — Things looked good for the Illini women’s basketball team after 8 minutes of play in yesterday’s 69-57 loss at Wisconsin. Illinois led 17-12, and Janae Terry had already scored ten points. Then the bottom fell out. The Illini didn’t score another field goal for 12 minutes, and the Badgers outscored them 24-5 during…
CHAMPAIGN — Since the COVID-compromised 2020-21 college basketball schedule was released last autumn, January 29 had been circled on everyone’s calendar. The Illinois-Iowa game was important to Illini and Hawkeye fans, of course. But the entire country was waiting and watching. That #19 Illinois prevailed 80-75 over #7 Iowa means a bevy of non-Midwestern hoops…