Both men’s and women’s basketball teams travelled to face ranked opponents and won, putting them on the right track as the Big Ten tournament approaches.
Men’s Basketball team upsets No. 5 Nebraska for 11 wins in a row
After the stunning loss to Nebraska (20-2, 9-2) in December, Illinois (19-3, 10-1) went to Nebraska’s home court and got its revenge with a 78-69 win. Nebraska came into this game suffering from its first loss of the season after losing to No. 3 Michigan. Illinois entered Nebraska with the largest winning streak under head coach Brad Underwood.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle between the two ranked teams. Illinois junior center Tomislav Ivisic did not miss a shot the entire first half. Ivisic’s 10 points and five rebounds helped Illinois get going and keep pace with Nebraska. The Cornhuskers did go into halftime with a six-point edge. Nebraska junior forward Pryce Sandfort and freshman forward Braden Frager led the Cornhuskers to the lead with 12 points each from the three-point line.
After halftime, the Illini picked up the pace as they were able to get to the free-throw line, which slowly erased the Cornhuskers’ lead. After a three-pointer from Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler, the Illini took control of the game and did not let Nebraska get a chance to regain the lead at the end of the game. Wagler had a slow first half but ended up scoring 23 points in the second half. He ended with 28 points for the night. This is the first NCAA DI player over the last 20 seasons with multiple 25+-point games in road wins over top-5 opponents.
As Illinois extends its win streak, this was also its second win against a top-five team in the past eight days.
Illinois will host Northwestern at State Farm Center on Wednesday at 8 pm.
Women’s Basketball team falls short to Cornhuskers.
The Illini (16-6, 6-5) have struggled going into Seattle against No. 24 Washington (17-5, 7-4). After losing five out of their last seven games, the Illini came out on top against the Huskies 75-66.
After a close battle in the first quarter, freshman forward Cearah Parchment started to pave the way for an Illini win. Illinois jumped out to an eight-point run that gave them a 10-point lead going into halftime.
Alongside Parchment, sophomore Berry Wallace chipped in the second half, which allowed Illinois to take a 14-point lead in the middle of the 3rd quarter. Parchment led the team as she recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Wallace scored 22 points herself as well, which is her 13th game scoring 20 or more points.
Illinois gets its sixth Big Ten win. Next, they will travel to the West Coast and take on Oregon on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.