Illinois received votes

1. Auburn (34)
2. Alabama (23)
T3. Florida (3)T
3. Duke
5. Tennessee (1)
6. Houston
7. Purdue
8. Texas A&M
9. St. John's
10. Iowa State
11. Michigan State
12. Texas Tech
13. Arizona
14. Memphis
15. Kentucky
16. Wisconsin
17. Kansas
18. Marquette
19. Ole Miss
20. Michigan
21. Missouri
22. Mississippi State
23. Clemson
24. Creighton
25. Maryland


Others receiving votes: Clemson 182, Saint Mary's 136, Louisville 86, Creighton 50, Oregon 39, UCLA 26, New Mexico 23, Drake 18, Gonzaga 11, Utah St. 8, Vanderbilt 4, Baylor 3, George Mason 3, Texas 1, Oklahoma 1.

24-0 Eagles at the half.

One of the more shocking Super Bowl first halves ever.

Really nice back nine yesterday.

$1.65 million - Keeps his card through 2027 - Invites to the Masters and others this year.

First, let's review our keys to the game.

Walking wounded - Illinois was still not 100% with Tre White hardly playing and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn limited due to flu. Still, Tomislav Ivisic sucking it up and playing hurt may have been the biggest key to the game for Illinois. Besides stuffing the stats with 18 points and 11 rebounds, his defense around the rim was impactful. The Gophers went just 8-for-21 on layups, and a lot of that was because of Ivisic changing shots.

Get the old KJ back - Jakucionis broke out of his slump. When you're not making shots you try to just let the game come to you and pick your spots. KJ got in the lane, cut to the bucket for dishes from Ivisic, and drew fouls. Then I thought the wide open 3 that he made early in the second half was a turning point that built up his confidence. He played both on and off the ball, which took some pressure off.

Speed them up - It was only a 59 possession game, but Illinois did have more success in pushing the tempo than most teams do against Minnesota. The Gophers play at the slowest pace in the Big Ten and one of the slowest in the country. There were times when Illinois turned defensive rebounds into easy buckets. They finished with 10 fast break points, which is a lot against Minnesota. 95 points is the most the Gophers have allowed this season. The Illini scored 1.610 points per possession.

More thoughts....

* Minnesota didn't do anything to slow Will Riley down when he went on a heater. The scouting report should have said deny him the ball on the perimeter, then bump him off balance when he gets in the lane. Minnesota did neither and they didn't bring any help when Riley blew by his defender. The Illini just kept feeding Riley, winding him up, and letting him go. 36.8 usage rate.

* Not much ball pressure from Minnesota, which is perplexing considering Illinois had been turning it over at a high rate. No hands in passing lanes either. When you give Illinois that kind of freedom of movement, its offensive execution improves exponentially. The Illini had 21 assists on 36 made field goals (58%) and just 6 turnovers. The Illini guards had 2 total turnovers combined.

* Underwood said in the post game that he did address the shot selection. The idea was to start out going to the rim, then work their way out. The 16 three point attempts were a season low. Illinois shot 56% from 3 and 66% from two, went 17-for-23 at the rim, and outscored Minnesota in the paint 50-26.

* Underwood has been asking a lot from Morez Johnson defensively. With the big lineup, he has to check players who are smaller and quicker. He has some issues staying square and defending them without fouling. He also gets called for some fouls just because he's a bull in a china shot an outmuscles guys for 50-50 balls.

* Illinois has a history of letting the opponent's best player take over games (see Dylan Harper). Not so tonight. Dawson Garcia (12) had his lowest point total in the last 10 games. He scored 5 points in a loss to Ohio State back in January then scored at least 19 points in the next 8 games. His 6 rebounds against Illinois was also below his season average.

* Illinois has a great freshman class. The downside is that a young team can have issues handling adversity, and they've went through that lately. They also can struggle handling success. When the Illini strings together a few buckets they have a tendency to stop their own momentum by reverting to quick shots and making the hard pass instead of the easy one. Chalk it up to overconfidence. That happened against the Gophers around the 12:30 mark in the second half, but Minnesota had some horrible possession of their own and didn't capitalize.

* I like the stat line from Ben Humrichous. 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Humrichous has made an effort to be more of complete player. He has played with more physicality. It doesn't come naturally to him but he's trying.

MADISON, Wis. – Illinois earned its fifth-straight road win and sixth-consecutive victory overall with a 74-51 triumph over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.

The Fighting Illini led by as many as 26 in the contest, ultimately prevailing by 23 to improve to 19-5 overall and 9-4 in Big Ten play this season.

Adalia McKenzie made two 3-pointers, her first outing this season with multiple makes from beyond the arc, and finished with a team-high 18 points. Totaling 12 points across the opening 20 minutes of play, McKenzie ended the afternoon with eight rebounds, six assists, and a steal.

Despite not playing in the fourth quarter, Genesis Bryant registered 11 points while going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Bryant also dished out a team-most seven assists and grabbed five rebounds.

Kendall Bostic secured the 50th double-double of her career with 15 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. Notching three assists, Bostic also had a big day defensively with three steals and two blocks.

Brynn Shoup-Hill posted 11 points after tallying eight points on 2-for-3 shooting from deep in the second half. Five of her six rebounds came on the offensive glass, and she tacked on an assist and a block.

Jasmine Brown-Hagger added nine points, four rebounds, two steals, and an assist, while Berry Wallace went 3-for-5 en route to a 10-point effort off the bench, her third-straight game in double figures.

The Illini established a 10-2 edge within the first four minutes of play. Brown-Hagger bagged the first four points for the Orange and Blue before 3-pointers from McKenzie and Bryant forced the Badgers to take an early timeout.

After Wisconsin cut into its deficit from the free throw line, Illinois used a 9-0 run to extend their lead up to 17 points just over six-and-a-half minutes into the opening frame. Going up by as many as 18 through the first 10 minutes, the visitors held a 25-10 advantage heading into the second period.

A 12-4 run early in the second quarter pushed the Orange and Blue's advantage above the 20-point mark for the first time, while Bryant reached the double-digit scoring mark during that time. McKenzie scored the team's final five points of the first half, bringing her up to 12 on the afternoon and sending the sides into the break with the Illini ahead, 42-25.

McKenzie led Illinois' offensive charge with 12 points and two made 3-pointers, with Bryant not far behind with 11 points while going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. All five Illini starters made a trey across the first 20 minutes of action in Madison.

Bostic became the third scorer to reach double figures with her first field goal of the second half, which came within the first 15 seconds of play. The Badgers responded with a 10-2 run to reduce their deficit to 11, though the Illini used a 5-0 run late in the frame to grow their lead up to 16. Wisconsin closed the third quarter on a 5-1 run, cutting the Orange and Blue's advantage to 52-40 with 10 minutes to play.

Allowing only one field goal across the first four-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, the Illini pieced together a 9-3 run to retake an 18-point edge. Shoup-Hill accounted for five of those points, including her second made 3-pointer of the afternoon. The Illini eventually extended their edge up to 26 late in the game, closing out the win ahead of their return to State Farm Center next week.

Illinois opens its two-game homestand on Thursday night against Penn State, with the opening tip between the sides set for 6 p.m. CT on B1G+.

Illinois shoots lights out and rolls Minnesota 95-74.

Will Riley 27 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists

Kasparas Jakucionis 24 points, Tomislav Ivisic 18 points 11 rebounds.

Illinois 36-for-57 FG (63.2%), 9-for-16 3PT FG (56.3%).

Just 6 turnovers.

95 points in just 59 possessions.

AGAIN a loss where the basics of taking good shots for 2 with a decent % of making the shot, making free throws and being coached on how not to or when to foul !

Versus taking or not taking and making 3 point shots ! We took NO and more important made NO 3 point shots in the last 10 minutes of the game !

Tre White is good to go.

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We have the 8th ranked team!!! Has that ever happened before? Only 2 Big Ten teams ranked higher Oregon and Penn State.

are next season, I don’t have any confidence that it will happen but KJ needs another year of seasoning before he heads to the NBA - Harper showed him what a 1st rd draft pick looks like. If everyone with eligibility returns they will be favorites to win the B1G and probably a pre-season top 10 team. If KJ does leave then Boswell, Riley, and/or Rodgers will need to handle PG. Maybe a few of them will gain confidence in their 3 pt shooting, and Morez and Ivisic will gain strength and skill.

There is just so much potential here but the sloppiness with the ball and frustratingly bad 3 point shooting are keeping them from reaching their potential this year.

Thought this was interesting

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Big difference in how Illini WBB has handled adversity compared to the men’s team.

Veteran leadership is the key, IMO. You have to suck it up and not make excuses.

JMO. Discuss.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has the flu and is likely questionable for tomorrow @ Minnesota.

Tomislav Ivisic has swelling in his ankle. Sounds like he's questionable as well.