CHAMPAIGN — It didn’t take long for the Illinois men’s basketball team to bounce back from a tough loss at Missouri on Saturday in the annual Braggin’ Rights game. Kofi Cockburn scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the 13th ranked Illini dominated Minnesota in their Big Ten Conference opener. Cockburn credited teammate Trent…
CHAMPAIGN — University of Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman announced Sunday that he has fired football coach Lovie Smith, a day after the Illini lost decisively to in-state rival Northwestern. Hear athletic director Josh Whitman’s Sunday afternoon news conference here. Smith compiled a 17-39 overall record in five seasons at the helm of the Illini…
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team suffered its third-straight loss in the annual Braggin’ Rights game, this time on Missouri’s home court in Columbia. The score was 81-78. Ayo Dosunmu scored a career-high 36 points, but was unable to convert a running three-pointer in the closing seconds. He said he made a…
LINCOLN, Neb. — Everything was clicking offensively for the Illinois women’s basketball team in its Big Ten opener at Nebraska Thursday night. Five Illinois players had scored in double figures, and the Illini led 67-63 with just more than three minutes to play. Nebraska then went on a 12-0 run to take a 75-67 lead,…
DURHAM, N.C. — Junior guard Ayo Dosunmu led six Illini in double figures, as #6 Illinois led through most of an 83-68 win at #10 Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Tuesday night. Dosunmu scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and had five assists to lead Illinois in all three categories. After the game, Dosunmu…
INDIANAPOLIS — The Baylor Bears showed why they are ranked number two in the country, beating the fifth-ranked Fighting Illini men’s basketball team 82-69 Wednesday night in Indianapolis. Davion Mitchell and Adam Flagler scored 15 and 18 points respectively to lead the Bears, combining for 58% shooting and 6-11 on three-pointers. It was a stark…
CHAMPAIGN — The fifth-ranked Fighting Illini men’s basketball team is in Indianapolis preparing for Tuesday night’s matchup against second-ranked Baylor. It’s the first top-five matchup for Illinois since the team’s Final Four season in 2005. Junior guard Ayo Dosunmu calls the contest against Baylor a “legacy game.” “I think in five, ten years people will…
CHAMPAIGN – The Illini men’s basketball team did not get a third straight blowout in the final game of their multi-team event in Champaign. Illinois beat the Ohio Bobcats 77-75 Friday, but it was a close game all the way. Ayo Dosunmu converted a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining in the second half….
CHAMPAIGN – Five Illini scored double-figures in Thursday’s 97-38 rout of visiting Chicago State at the State Farm Center in Champaign. But it was their performance on the defensive end that most pleased Coach Brad Underwood. “Defensive rebounding, we need to be dominant there, and it takes everybody,” said Underwood. “When we defensive rebound, it…
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Fighting Illini football team used five Nebraska turnovers to top the Cornhuskers 41-23, in what head coach Lovie Smith called a historic victory. “I’m told we haven’t won in Lincoln since 1924, when Red Grange played,” Smith said. “Whenever something like that happens, of course, it’s a big deal.” Quarterback Brandon…
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The third time was the charm for Illini placekicker James McCourt. McCourt drilled a 47-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to give Illinois a 23-20 win over Rutgers, Saturday afternoon in Piscataway, New Jersey. He said he wasn’t phased by missing two attempts earlier in the 4th quarter. “That first kick…
CHAMPAIGN — Lovie Smith made no excuses for his Illini football team’s dismal performance in Saturday’s 41-14 blowout loss to previously winless Minnesota. He put the blame squarely on himself. “I’m the head football coach. Everything comes back to me,” Smith said. “I didn’t perform the way I need to.” Mo Ibrahim set a Gopher…
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois lost another football game Saturday, but unlike last week against Wisconsin, this one wasn’t a laugher. Purdue came to town a seven-point favorite, and won by a touchdown. The Boilermakerss got 376 yards passing.from Aidan O’Connell, who converted 29 of 36 attempts including two touchdowns. Illinois had a chance to tie the…
UPDATED 5:45 p.m. | The high school basketball season will play on as planned despite a surge in COVID-19 cases across Illinois.
MADISON — Illini football tripped out of the gate and never found its footing in a season-opening 45-7 drubbing at Wisconsin last night. The Badgers dominated both sides of the ball, led by quarterback Graham Mertz, who converted 20 of his 21 passing attempts for 248 yards and five touchdowns — tying the all-time Wisconsin record in his first…