Has anyone done a deep dive into playing more Big Ten Tournament possessions and doing worse in the NCAA Tournament? Seems like this thing has been killing us given that the conference has won one championship since it started.

I would also note that even though MSU won the BTT in 2000 before winning the NCAA Tournament, their 3 games in that tournament totaled 185 possessions. By contrast, our three games in the 2021 Big Ten Tournament totaled 226 possessions (while being stuck in the Indianapolis COVID bubble.)

We only played 196 possessions in 2005 when we made the Final Four, but that team also struggled for a half with a 16-seed and for a historically good team didn't really blow out 9-seed Nevada either.

I know UConn 2011 seemed immune to these effects but their tournament ended on a Saturday and Kemba Walker may have been one of the most well-conditioned players in NCAA history.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A free throw from Makira Cook with 35.1 seconds remaining proved to be the difference in Illinois' 74-73 victory over Nebraska in a back-and-forth Senior Day contest at State Farm Center on Sunday.

The Fighting Illini held the Cornhuskers without a field goal for the final five minutes and scoreless for the final two-and-a-half minutes, as the hosts closed the contest on a 6-0 run en route to the one-point victory.

Leading for only 89 seconds in the fourth quarter, Illinois held the advantage as the clock hit zero for the team's first home victory over the Cornhuskers in over seven years. The Orange and Blue honored six seniors and fifth-years postgame, while the hosts had three scorers finish in double figures.

Makira Cook recorded a team-high 20 points, her team-leading sixth outing with at least 20 points. Hitting the game-winning free throw in the final minute of play, Cook surpassed the 1,500-point mark in her career on an and-1 layup in the third quarter. She also grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists.

Kendall Bostic played a complete game for the third time in her career and registered her fifth consecutive double-double with 12 points and a team-most 10 rebounds. Corralling two boards in the final two minutes, Bostic also dished out four assists, her second-most in a game this season. She tacked on one steal, her 10th time in the last 11 game with at least one takeaway.

Genesis Bryant returned to double figures, pouring in 17 points while knocking down two 3-pointers. Playing all 40 minutes for the second time in the last four games, Bryant went a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line, and she accumulated four rebounds and one steal, her fourth straight game with at least one forced turnover.

Camille Hobby tallied nine points on 4-for-6 shooting, missing only one shot and amassing six points in the second half. Hobby also grabbed two rebounds, while she has at least one offensive board in eight of her last nine games.

Shay Bollin put together her second-best scoring effort of the season, notching nine points off the bench. Bollin provided a spark in the second quarter, recording seven points in the frame. She also finished with two rebounds.

Gretchen Dolan scored seven points, including five of those came in the final three minutes. Three of her four rebounds came on the offensive glass, and she made one steal.

The Illini defense came up clutch down the stretch, holding the Cornhuskers to 31.8% from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point range over the final 10 minutes of play.

After a scoreless opening two minutes, the Cornhuskers took an early two-point advantage, but the Illini trailed for only 21 seconds before pulling in front via seven straight points. Hobby was credited with the hosts' first points, which came on just her third 3-pointer of the season, before Bostic and Cook recorded layups to round out the 7-0 run. Bryant scored her first points of the afternoon before Cook rattled home her firs trey of the day, which saw Illinois take a 12-6 lead at the first media timeout.

The two sides traded baskets over the next two minutes, with Bostic accounting for four straight points for the Orange and Blue. With the Illini hanging on to an 18-16 edge, the home side closed the opening period of play with a 5-0 run, which included a Cook and-1 layup.

Illinois took a 23-17 advantage through the first 10 minutes, but Nebraska opened the second quarter with a 10-0 run to go in front, 26-23. Held scoreless for nearly three minutes, the Illini responded with a 10-0 run of their own. Bryant and Bollin both registered five points during that two-minute scoring stretch, which put the Orange and Blue back ahead by seven.

Cook moved into double figures with her second triple of the afternoon, which came with 1:14 remaining in the second quarter and also marked the final points of the opening half. The Illini shot 52.9% from the field through the opening 20 minutes, which saw the home team take a 42-35 lead into the break.

Bostic amassed a game-high 12 points in the first half, while she scored eight points in the opening 10 minutes of action. The Illini took advantage of their persistence in the paint, as 24 of their 42 first-half points came in the lane.

Hobby scored the Illini's first four points of the third quarter before Bryant connected from 3-point range, but the Cornhuskers used a 6-0 run to tie the contest at 49 with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the frame. Illinois responded with a 4-0 run to retake the lead, but a 6-0 Cornhusker scoring stretch put the visitors in front. The Orange and Blue countered with a 6-0 run of their own, which included a Bryant trey and an and-1 from Cook, the latter of which moved the Illini senior above the 1,500-point mark in her career. A buzzer-beating bucket from Nebraska cut Illinois' advantage in half and brought the score to 59-57 in the Illini's favor with 10 minutes remaining.

The Cornhuskers began the final period with an 8-0 run, which gave the visitors a six-point edge with less than seven minutes remaining. A 5-2 Illini run over the next minute cut the home side's deficit in half, but the Cornhuskers quickly answered with four straight points to extend their lead up to seven points. Illinois continued to fight, piecing together a 9-2 run to tie the contest at 73 apiece with 1:19 to play. Dolan had five points during that span, including an and-1 layup, while the Illini held Nebraska without a field goal for nearly four minutes.

After the Orange and Blue got a stop on the defensive end of the floor, the Illini took their first lead in over eight minutes of play after Cook made a free throw to give the hosts a 74-73 advantage with 35.1 seconds left. A frenetic final 30 seconds ensued, and a Cornhusker last-gasp 3-pointer rimmed out, giving the Illini a narrow one-point victory in the team's regular-season finale.

Illinois (14-14, 8-10 B1G) enters the Big Ten Tournament as the 9-seed, and it will take on 8-seeded Maryland in the first game of the second round. Tipoff from the Target Center in Minneapolis is slated for 11:30 a.m. CT, and the game will air on Big Ten Network.



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What you got?

I'm torn. Purdue is the better team overall, but Illinois is playing well and are on their home court.

Should be a great game.

Game 9: #2 Seed def. Game 5 Winner

Game 10: #3 Seed def. Game 6 Winner

#2 and #3 seeds already expected to defeat the Game 5 and Game 6 winners on their web site.

~91% chance we get the 2 seed and ~4% chance we get the 3 seed. I'll still be willing to settle for the 1 seed

This team played so smart, so composed. No bad shots. Coleman didn’t light up the scoreboard but he was brilliant.

Domask is obviously a game changer and Terrance is a freak.

Great, great win.

This team can go far.

Bad break for Johnny and probably explains why he has slipped some in mock drafts.

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Final: Minnesota 75 Penn State 70

Final: (15) Baylor 82 (7) Kansas 74

Iowa @ Northwestern just underway

Michigan State @ (2) Purdue. 7 pm.

(4) Tennessee @ (14) Alabama. 7 pm

(1) Houston @ Oklahoma. 7 pm.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Illinois baseball (5-6) secured a winning weekend at the First Pitch Invitational with a 12-6 win over Michigan State (4-7) in a non-conference matchup at Fluor Field today.

Drake Westcott powered the offense today, going 1-for-4 with a run, home run, three RBI and a walk. Asher Bradd, Coltin Quagliano and Brody Harding all had two hits in the ballgame and all nine starters recorded at least one hit.

Cooper Omans earned his second win in as many appearances, working 2.2 innings of one-run ball, scattering four hits and striking out three. Jake Swartz took no-decision in the start, allowing three runs, two earned, over 4.1 innings, punching-out three. The Fighting Illini pitching staff issued just one free pass in the contest and totaled six strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

For the second time this weekend, the Illini put up a crooked number their first time at the plate. Quagliano got Illinois on the board with an RBI-groundout and Ryan Moerman plated two more with a two-out RBI-single, after Vytas Valincius extended the inning with a two-out walk, to make it 3-0.

Illinois hit Michigan State for three more in the second, with Quagliano picking up his second RBI of the contest on a single, and Valincius picking up two RBI on a two-out base hit to make it 6-0.

Swartz retired the first six batters he faced and retired nine of the first 10 batters overall, yielding just one hit.

With the Spartan offense held scoreless through three, the Illini offense made it 9-0 after a three-run fourth, thanks to Westcott's three-run blast to right center.

Michigan State would grab a run back in the bottom half of the fourth, but Illinois would tally their fourth three-run inning of the ballgame in the fifth. The Orange and Blue would score on an error, an RBI-groundout from Camden Janik and on a wild pitch to make it 12-1.

The Spartans would score once in the seventh and twice in the eighth, but it was not enough as the Illini cruised to the 12-6 victory.

UP NEXT

Illinois baseball heads to Knoxville, Tenn., where they will face the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers in a three-game set at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch on Friday's series opener is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.

GAME NOTES
» Coltin Quagliano went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
» Has recorded at least one hit in 10 of 11 games this season...has back-to-back multi-hit games.
» Has 12 RBI in 40 at-bats this season compared to nine RBI in 61 at-bats last season.
» Asher Bradd went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
» First multi-hit game of the season.
» Brody Harding went 2-for-4 with a walk.
» Has back-to-back multi-hit games...has three such performances in his last four.
» Drake Westcott went 1-for-4 with a run, home run, three RBI and a walk.
» Has drawn seven walks in his last four games...has drawn at least one walk in four-straight games.
» Currently leads all Big Ten batters with 13 walks.
» Ranks fifth among Big Ten hitters with a 1.216 OPS.
» Cal Hejza went 1-for-3 with four runs scored and a walk.
» Matched his career high in runs scored.
» Has reached safely in 10-straight games.
» Cameron Chee-Aloy went 1-for-6 with two runs scored.
» Has reached safely in all 11 games this season.
» Every Illinois starter reached base safely in the win.
» The Fighting Illini drew six walks from Michigan State pitching.
» Illinois went 4-for-13 (.308) with runners in scoring position.
» Jake Rons tossed a scoreless ninth inning to end the game.
» Allowed just two hits and no runs over 3.0 innings of work at the First Pitch Invitational.
» Illinois pitchers faced 40 Michigan State hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and 13 fly balls while striking out six.
» The Illini have won four-straight against the Spartans and nine of the last 10 matchups overall.

Brad Underwood is not leaving Illinois.

The whole dance where people on here genuinely don't think he's a good coach or think there's any sort of "hot seat" if he doesn't win a certain number of tournament games ... it's beyond bizarre. Almost fantastical. I truly don't get it, and I have very high expectations for the program.

I get that some of you don't like Underwood's personality. But unless he does something awful during a game or to a player (which nothing we've seen indicates is close to the case), he's the coach at Illinois until he misses two straight NCAAs or retires.

Btw, for those actually paying attention, he's about to make his 5th straight tournament (yes, I count 2020, we were a 100% lock when things were cancelled during the BTT).

Since Bill Self's recruits didn't play the majority of minutes on an Illinois team, here are our results as a program.

Bruce Weber
2008 - Missed NCAAs, No Tournament
2009 - #5 seed, R64 loss
2010 - Missed NCAAs, NIT
2011 - #9 seed, R32 loss
2012 - Missed NCAAs, No Tournament, Weber Terminated

John Groce
2013 - #7 seed, R32 loss
2014 - Missed NCAAs, NIT
2015 - Missed NCAAs, NIT
2016 - Missed NCAAs, No Tournament
2017 - Missed NCAAs, NIT, John Groce Fired

Brad Underwood
2018 - Missed NCAAs, No Tournament
2019 - Missed NCAAs, No Tournament
2020 - NCAA Lock as #6/7 Type Seed, Tournament Cancelled
2021 - #1 seed, R32 loss
2022 - #4 seed, R32 loss
2023 - #9 seed, R64 loss
2025 - Projected #3-#6 seed, ???

We made the tournament 3 times from 2008-19 (in 12 seasons). Since it's been the Underwood program, we are 5 of 5. Yes, the guy needs to win more NCAA games, 100%. But he's not getting fired by being better than 2/3s of the major CBB programs every year.

Tipoff coming up at noon.

What happened to them this year? Down 30 to Michigan St at half.

Best nickname ever