Round 2 Results | Round 3 Tee Times

GALLOWAY, N.J. – The No. 3-ranked Fighting Illini men's golf team extended its lead at the Big Ten Championship on Saturday as scores dropped to coincide with improving weather on Day 2 at Galloway National Golf Club.

Following a 30-minute delay in the morning, the rain and wind threatened early before giving way to some nicer conditions late in the round, allowing the Orange and Blue to shoot the lowest team round of the day, a 16-under 268, and push their six stroke lead to 17 heading into Sunday's finale.

"When you're playing team golf, you can never be satisfied with where you are because there are so many moving parts, and so many things that add up to a team score," head coach Mike Small said. "You've got to keep moving, you've got to keep going. Just like the way we turned on the jets on that back nine. We asked the guys to do it, and they responded."

A day after Matthis Besard posted the only under-par score in Round 1, all five members of the Illini lineup were in the red, led by a short-lived course-record rounds from sophomore Jackson Buchanan and fifth-year senior Tommy Kuhl, who shot 66 (-5) and 64 (-6), respectively.

Buchanan finished his round just one hole ahead of Kuhl, who overtook the course record from his teammate before ultimately being surpassed, just a few minutes later, by Purdue's Herman Sekne who carded a 62 (-9) for the lowest individual round of the day.

The rounds by Kuhl and Buchanan, however, were enough to put four Illini within striking distance of the individual title with 18 holes to play. Kuhl moved to 2-under, matching Besard in a tie for third place just one stroke off the pace of 36-hole co-leaders Mac McClear of Iowa and Daniel Svard of Northwestern.

Buchanan is now tied with teammate Adrien Dumont de Chassart at 141 (-1). Dumont de Chassart, who claimed the 2019 Big Ten individual title as a freshman, carded a 2-under 69 in Round 2 to remain in contention.

Piercen Hunt also finds himself in the mix. The Illini junior enters Round 3 in a tie for 13th with a 36-hole score of 144 (+2), bouncing back from an opening 76 with a 3-under 68 on Saturday.

As a team, the Illini's 268 (-16) was 10 shots ahead of the next closest team round, a 278 from Indiana. Northwestern was one shot shy of Indiana for the day, and sits behind the Illini with a two-round total of 577 (+9). NU is six strokes ahead of third-place Wisconsin (+15). The Hoosiers are fourth at 18-over, while Ohio State and Iowa round out the top five in a tie at 21-over.

Despite the team's cushion, and the looming threat of more inclement weather, the Illini remain focused on closing out the tournament which would secure the program's eighth consecutive B1G Championship, their 13th of 14 since 2009, and the program's 20th overall Big Ten Title.

"The goal for tomorrow is to go out and try to win the day," Small added. "We won today's round, now we want to win tomorrow's.

"All you can do is take care of your own business. Stay in your own space, and take care of your own business. We can't play defense in golf. We can't worry about anybody else. We have to go out and take care of our mindset, control our space, accept the conditions of the weather and the course, and be ready to play and compete like Illini."

Round 3 is set to begin with tee times at 8 a.m. ET/7 a.m. CT. The Illini, paired with the Wildcats and Badgers, will tee off starting at 8:45 a.m. ET/7:45 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com. For more information, visit the 2023 Big Ten Men's Golf Championship Central.

FOLLOW THE #ILLINI
For more Fighting Illini men's golf news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniMGolf on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.

Sydney and Chase Brown on the NFL Network next Wednesday, at 7 PM IIRC.

So far, linebacker CJ Hart and safety Prince Green.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

The latest with the three-star OL out of Kentucky. Illinois among his top contenders

I seen on tweeter he was going in the portal

What are your questions on what we learned this spring?

What's the scoop on this kid? Is built and plays a bit like Carson Edwards. In the Junior class. Michael Obrien and Joe Hendrickson are beginning to talk about him a lot. Looks like he can dime and shoot. Throws it down for a thick 6'2 guard. People I talk to up there say this kid can play.

They also have a developing Soph, Sam Schultz. He's beginning to put up some impressive numbers as the season has gone along. Dad played at UIC. 6'7 type kid. He's been getting more and more ink also as a developing player in his class.

State tournament time. These types of names and teams are fun to follow at this time of year. Sounds like we'll hear more about these guys in the months ahead. Ray J Dennis for sure.

Besides our game against Nebraska getting moved to Friday evening, there are a few more games involving conference teams that got moved to Fridays this season.

From the original B1G 2023 schedule that was released by the conference on Oct, 26, 2022, these are the games that got moved:

Sept. 1 Central Michigan at Michigan State
Sept. 8 Indiana State at Indiana
Sept. 15 Virginia at Maryland
Sept. 22 Wisconsin at Purdue
Oct. 6 Nebraska at Illinois (editorial: this one does work for me. My significant other wants me to be her +1 at a wedding on Oct. 7 for a couple I barely know and I did not want to miss this game).

I know many fans hate college football on Friday nights. The two main reasons being that Friday nights are traditionally for high school football and for many fans who have to travel long distances, it is more difficult to get to a Friday night game.

With the new partnerships with FOX, CBS, and NBC, I could foresee the B1G having Friday games throughout the entire season as opposed to mainly in the first few weeks as it seems now. And with UCLA and USC joining, who knows what other non-traditional time slots for games the networks will come up with.

For those of you who hate Friday games (and in some cases Thursday), think of the poor fans of MAC teams. That conference made a deal with the ESPN networks sometime back in the 2000s where November games would be played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Those stadiums look mostly empty during the broadcasts. I know if I lived 200 miles away, I would not have much motivation to take a couple days off work just to go to a cold weeknight game no matter if it is the top 2 teams in the MAC. Yet the MAC made this deal because supposedly because it's more exposure for them nationally and more money.

So, the question is, do the schools who allow their games to be played outside of Saturdays really profit from national TV exposure by foregoing potential fans in the seats?

I have a feeling Friday night football in the B1G won't be going away anytime soon. It's about to get bigger.

Thoughts?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball head coach Shauna Green has announced the addition of Shay Bollin to the women's basketball program. Bollin – a sophomore transfer from Duke – has signed a Big Ten Tender of Financial Aid with the University of Illinois and is set to join the program beginning with the 2023-24 season.

"I am so excited to have Shay join our Illini family," opened Green. "She brings size, toughness, and the ability to stretch the floor. She is an elite shooter who fits our system perfectly. Shay is a competitor and a hard worker who will continue to grow in our program. I can't wait to get her on campus and get to work."

Bollin is a 6-foot-3-inch forward from Raynham, Massachusetts. She appeared in eight games off the bench for the Blue Devils last season while averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 rebound across 41 minutes of action as a true freshman.

"I chose Illinois for numerous reasons: the staff, the players, the facilities, the alumni base and so much more are all elite," shared Bollin. "Most importantly, it's very evident how Coach Green has so quickly been able to build a genuine, competitive culture at Illinois. She is phenomenal at developing unique and authentic relationships with her players. The team, both players and staff, is made up of high character people who are eager to work hard, develop and win together! I feel this will really be the catalyst in having a big rise in the Big Ten and officially putting Illinois on the map. This is a brand-new construction that Coach Shauna is building, and I have full faith that with her history of development in her players to reach their full potential, both on and off the court, Illinois is a perfect place fit for me!"

During her season in Durham, North Carolina, Bollin and the Duke squad posted a 26-7 overall record including a 14-4 mark in ACC play. The Blue Devils picked up a win in both the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament during the post season.

Bollin played her prep ball at Bridgewater – Raynham Regional High School where she ranked as high as No. 26 overall in the class of 2022 before finishing with a final ranking of No. 33 by ESPNW. A 2022 McDonald's All-American nominee, Bollin was also a three-time captain of her high school squad. Bridgewater-Raynham was 67-13 in her four-year career, including four straight undefeated conference championships (28-0 overall record in league play). Bollin missed her junior and senior seasons rehabbing from injury.

The daughter of Timothy and Laurie Bollin, Shay has three younger siblings – two brothers and a sister.

Login to view embedded media