Northwestern 84 Indiana 83

Iowa 76 Rutgers 65

Maryland 80 Ohio State 73

Purdue 76 Penn State 63

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Thank you Malik! Thank you BB!

in the second quarter in Columbus. I’m really liking this Shauna Green.

You guys are going to love this kid. Huge performance by Olano at the All-American Bowl. He broke the longest FG record with a 50 yarder today,
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@bucshon, can you elaborate on your comment in the game thread? Epps is the one freshman that looks to have a complete game.

Brad Underwood is at Bloomington Central Catholic Friday night to watch Cole Certa.

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Per Scott Burgess from Prep Hoops, Yorkville 2024 center Jason Jakstys will visit Illinois Saturday for the Wisconsin game.

With all the talk in the portal threads about the need for a transfer running back, I'm just wondering how much BB is planning on having Feagin near the top of the depth chart. I don't know much about the young man other than he is rated as a 4*, is 6'-2", 235 lbs, and placed 2nd in the long jump at the state championships last year. He is listed as an athlete so the quickness and speed must be pretty good, if not elite. McCray is 6'-1", 235.

To compare size, Ron Dayne was 5'-10", 245; Derek Henry is 6'-3", 240; Najee Harris is 6'-1", 225. So big running backs have been/can be effective without elite speed. Not counting on Anderson we'll have Love, McCray, Laughery, and Feagin. Never hurts to have another experienced back with a burst but I'm questioning how big the need is. Just my simple thoughts. Any additional thoughts are appreciated.

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Matthew Mayer dressed and went through the shootaround.

Tyler Wahl made the trip for Wisconsin, but will not play. Lower body injury.

This upcoming Jan 7th game is shaping up to be the most important game of the season. We are 0-3 and things are starting to turn (bleak) in our season. It doesn’t seem like the players have given up but we have to start seeing some success out on the court. Does anyone else think its this dire yet? We play at Nebraska after this game and I‘m not expecting us to win that game right now.

Tyler Wahl for wisky might not play in our game. He injured his right ankle.

Huge news.

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.. gone?

What a trainwreck BU has.

Right here:

There is a comp for this team and it is the 2011-2012 season. Started out great and notched a big win over Gonzaga and a 10-0 start. Then followed with a couple bad non-conference losses including a Mizzou loss. Season peaked with the Brandon Paul game against Ohio State (similar to Shannon against UCLA.) After that we went into the death spiral and finished 6-12 in conference. That team had 3 NBA players on the roster (Brandon Paul, Meyers Leonard, Myke Henry) but it did not have a real PG. Sam Maniscalco was dinged up for most of the 2nd half of the season and Tracy Abrams was a bit of a Jayden Epps combo guard who is really a SG. Team ended up 145th in offensive efficiency.

That team also had very low minutes continuity from the previous season (31.7%).

John Groce took the same roster (minus a lottery pick in Leonard) to the round of 32 next year so you know the talent was there.

There was a huge coaching meltdown from Bruce Weber who realized he was about to get fired no matter what. Meyers was spotted crying in a Nebraska loss so the team was clearly struggling with chemistry and confidence.

Unfortunately, that was one of the most miserable years in recent memory.

I don't think we're doomed to repeat that disaster but it's possible. I can understand why people are upset. I almost never miss a second of Illini basketball and I had stopped watching by the end of that year. It's the kind of thing that can suck the life out of a fanbase. There's almost nothing worse than seeing talented players underachieve and look miserable and lost on the court.

I will be at State Farm Center tonight covering Illinois vs. Northwestern.

Tipoff is 8 pm on BTN.

Then the women have a huge game on Sunday at No. 3 Ohio State.