IlliniHQ 2
General Category => Fighting Illini Basketball Forum => Topic started by: ILLINICHIEF on March 22, 2026, 09:50:25 AM
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https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401856566/illinois-houston
Houston in basically a home game (?) are currently only -2.5 favs.
ILLINI will need to play quite a bit of zone (mtachup) against Houston to neutralize the 3 guards (good) penetrating. They can shoot the 3 but if not on, they want to get fast break pts/drives to the rim/fouls.
Houston overall as a team have 6 players that shoot 30-38% from three, but with only 3 players that average double digits. Houston is not made to go on HUGE scoring spurts, if the ILLINI can come out and punch them in the mouth first, sustain it and quiet the crowd, then they have a great chance and "should" win this one.
Our ILLINI have 6 players as well shooting 31-42% from three, however we have 5 guys averaging double figures.
40-36 avg rebounds, Illini are better.
84-77 pts per game, Illini are better.
14-14 assts per gm, even
4-7 steals per game, Houston is better, ILLINI cannot get sloppy and usually don't
8-9 T/O's per game, both teams are about even here.
FG/FT % are about even, they do count you know....LOL
All things considered a 2 seed playing a home game vs a 3 seed who's fans probably travel the best, and also who play very well in hostile environments should lead to a evenly matched game.
Houston bigs cannot get into foul trouble Cenac their best one is a freshman, and overall as a 7' is the only one inside that should give us issues, if he gets into foul trouble (Ivisic Bro's-Mirk-Andrej) hammering it to the rim, this game sways big time ILLINI way.
ILLINI 82- Houston 70 Elite 8 trip for our guys is my call!!
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https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401856566/illinois-houston
Houston in basically a home game (?) are currently only -2.5 favs.
ILLINI will need to play quite a bit of zone (mtachup) against Houston to neutralize the 3 guards (good) penetrating. They can shoot the 3 but if not on, they want to get fast break pts/drives to the rim/fouls.
Houston overall as a team have 6 players that shoot 30-38% from three, but with only 3 players that average double digits. Houston is not made to go on HUGE scoring spurts, if the ILLINI can come out and punch them in the mouth first, sustain it and quiet the crowd, then they have a great chance and "should" win this one.
Our ILLINI have 6 players as well shooting 31-42% from three, however we have 5 guys averaging double figures.
40-36 avg rebounds, Illini are better.
84-77 pts per game, Illini are better.
14-14 assts per gm, even
4-7 steals per game, Houston is better, ILLINI cannot get sloppy and usually don't
8-9 T/O's per game, both teams are about even here.
FG/FT % are about even, they do count you know....LOL
All things considered a 2 seed playing a home game vs a 3 seed who's fans probably travel the best, and also who play very well in hostile environments should lead to a evenly matched game.
Houston bigs cannot get into foul trouble Cenac their best one is a freshman, and overall as a 7' is the only one inside that should give us issues, if he gets into foul trouble (Ivisic Bro's-Mirk-Andrej) hammering it to the rim, this game sways big time ILLINI way.
ILLINI 82- Houston 70 Elite 8 trip for our guys is my call!!
Give me some of that orange kool aid!!!
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Who knew Jeff Frank was only 15 years early on his Houston2011 “stars are aligned” call.
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The way these guys are playing they may like being out of conference play.
Keep playing defense and hit the shots.
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We can win im gonna drop a money line bet on houston to make sure that happens
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2025-26 season is already a success in my book. Playing with house money here.
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2025-26 season is already a success in my book. Playing with house money here.
I’m gonna keep this quote for next week when Jason says “yeah whatever we beat an 11 seed fire Underwood”
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Anyone here have seasons tickets and can apply for the Illinois allocation? Trying to get a couple tickets for my old college roommate.
Sadly I’m stuck here and going to the Purdue games. Sadly the same night as the Illini
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I’m gonna keep this quote for next week when Jason says “yeah whatever we beat an 11 seed fire Underwood”
He already said that
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I’m gonna keep this quote for next week when Jason says “yeah whatever we beat an 11 seed fire Underwood”
It’s Jasn
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9:05 PM tip off. Too bad the boomers here will be soundly tucked in to bed by that point.
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He already said that
Oops - I meant "a 9 seed"
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9:05 PM tip off. Too bad the boomers here will be soundly tucked in to bed by that point.
I cannot figure out how anyone over the age of 25 can stand being in any time zone other than Pacific when it comes to live sports. Nothing beats rolling out of bed on Sunday for 10 AM NFL, and MNF not going past midnight.
Got lucky, Purdue is the early game at 4. Illini at 7. Have to decide if I want to watch Illinois in a bar at the Shark Tank or just completely bail on Arizona/Arkansas and find a bar "downtown" (San Jose doesn't have what I really call a downtown)
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I cannot figure out how anyone over the age of 25 can stand being in any time zone other than Pacific when it comes to live sports. Nothing beats rolling out of bed on Sunday for 10 AM NFL, and MNF not going past midnight.
Got lucky, Purdue is the early game at 4. Illini at 7. Have to decide if I want to watch Illinois in a bar at the Shark Tank or just completely bail on Arizona/Arkansas and find a bar "downtown" (San Jose doesn't have what I really call a downtown)
Being in Hawaii for the super bowl is awesome too. Game starts at 1:30, over by dinner time. Then have the rest of the evening to do whatever.
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9:05 PM tip off. Too bad the boomers here will be soundly tucked in to bed by that point.
I plan on watching Lauren Shehadi ask Kylan Boswell the obligatory question about what the win means to him and the team.
Beat the Cougars !!
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I'll be up and ready. MDT not too bad but had a couple of 9pm Buff tipoffs for home games this year against AZ and KS. Trained hard for this in the younger days pulling all nighters in the vending machine room at the Union.
BTW we're 4-5 this season vs the other 15 still in. That speaks to a strong schedule. Maybe one of you unemployed or AI guys can figure out what the rest of the field's records are?
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Being in Hawaii for the super bowl is awesome too. Game starts at 1:30, over by dinner time. Then have the rest of the evening to do whatever.
Hawaii bowl on Christmas eve isn't too shabby either.
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I'll be up and ready. MDT not too bad but had a couple of 9pm Buff tipoffs for home games this year against AZ and KS. Trained hard for this in the younger days pulling all nighters in the vending machine room at the Union.
BTW we're 4-5 this season vs the other 15 still in. That speaks to a strong schedule. Maybe one of you unemployed or AI guys can figure out what the rest of the field's records are?
I saw a list earlier. Houston is 1-4 against the S16.
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I saw a list earlier. Houston is 1-4 against the S16.
In April 1989, Illinois played Michigan, against whom they were 2-0 in the regular season
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In April 1989, Illinois played Michigan, against whom they were 2-0 in the regular season
Heartbreaking loss.
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In April 1989, Illinois played Michigan, against whom they were 2-0 in the regular season
And thoroughly dominated.
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3/26/89 - Beat Syracuse to advance to Elite 8.
3/26/05 - Beat Arizona to advance ro Elite 8.
3/26/26 - Will beat Houston to advance to Elite 8.
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I think the 89/05 games were for a F4 berth but yeah let’s do it
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I think the 89/05 games were for a F4 berth but yeah let’s do it
Probably right. Cannot say I was listening THAT closely to the podcast where I heard it while trying to sleep.
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Good news is we're getting to the rim.
Bad news is we're not finishing after getting to the rim.
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Houston doing the belichek foul on every play they wont call em all thing
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Free shots
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Should be up 15. No bueno.
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We lead but this low scoring rock fight favors Houston.
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Wasted 3:00 minutes to start game and pull away a little.
Wasted 3 early possessions with drives too deep and not strong enough and T/o's
Wasted 2 fouls and then no one seemed to know who had Flemings at the end.
Otherwise, ILLINI doing about as good as can be expected. Houston is seriously bodying up the ILLINI and getting away with some pushes/face hits/etc, our ILLINI are playing tough...whoever gets that run going in 2nd wins imo. Shooting as been horrendous overall, lets see if the ILLINI get going on some easier drive/kicks/ and offensive boards.
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Hard to complain in this position too much but we should be up 8-10 here. Missed layups, stupid shots, etc.
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Hard to complain in this position too much but we should be up 8-10 here. Missed layups, stupid shots, etc.
Agreed, I do like that Jake seems to take possibly getting "punked" personally, he looks to have some fire in the belly than normal....good for him. The team as a whole has played the toughest I've seen in a long time, maybe all year.
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Wagler/Boswell/Mirk a combined 3/17. Need them to get going.
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Let's fucking go
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Keep driving and dishing!
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Keaton clearly pushed out of bounds. No call. FFS.
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Moving the ball is the key here on offense. They can’t rotate fast enough to guard us when we make decisive passes to players in spots that can score. Keep playing D. Let’s goooo
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Wagler is a 2nd half scorer. He's at 9 pts with 7 rebounds.
Mirk is 7 and 7.
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Make your damned Free Shots!!!!!
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BOOT ON NECK
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18 POINT LEAD
CLOSE THIS FUCKING SHIT OUT
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Houston sucks. Wow.
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Make your free shots
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Free shots matter, guys.
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Can’t help but think that missing FTs is somehow going to matter in this game.
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KICK THEM IN THE NUTZ
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crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the women.
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Nut punch alert...
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FREE SHOTS!!!!
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Hold steady
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Mirk and Wagler with double doubles. Let's win this.
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Too close for comfort lets fuckijg grind it out
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This much, I vow. The history of these days will be written in blood, by crushing the armies of our enemy, by seizing the weapons they thought to turn against us! We were fighting, for our very existence!
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WE ARE ELITE!!!! FUCK YEAH
I-L-L!!!!!!
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I-N-I!!!!
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Holy shit we actually won an underdog game in the tournament. Congrats to Brad and the boys!
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Fuck yeah!
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Congrats everyone. Great job BU and squad.
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Get fucked, Sampscum!!
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We surprised a lot of people tonight.
Me included.
We played solid defense and controlled the tempo, great game. 👏👏👏
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Congrats to all the ILLINI boys, the staff, (Crocker tonight) deserves special kudo's imo. This is THE single best defensive display from this team ALL year.
If they continue to buy in to this extent the Natty might just be the ceiling this year. I think our offense has recovered, pair that with THIS defensive plan/scheme/effort the rest of the way, who knows.
Proud of the program for stepping up, bring on the Hawk Tuah's
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Get fucked, Sampscum!!
Back in the day I would have agreed, maybe just in jest, but as a coach I have a ton of respect for Sampson. He is not at an elite program imo, doesn't have the big NIL that others do, and yet he keeps grinding out top 5-10 programs year in year out. They fought hard, we just had enough answers.
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Congrats to all the ILLINI boys, the staff, (Crocker tonight) deserves special kudo's imo. This is THE single best defensive display from this team ALL year.
If they continue to buy in to this extent the Natty might just be the ceiling this year. I think our offense has recovered, pair that with THIS defensive plan/scheme/effort the rest of the way, who knows.
Proud of the program for stepping up, bring on the Hawk Tuah's
Yep. Best defensive performance of the year.
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17-0 run by our ILLINI, not quite the 30-0 one we took, but damn on the way. If I were Iowa, I would be very worried right now, our boys confidence will be and SHOULD be sky high after today's effort.
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I thought their physicality and tenacity would overwhelm us into submission but we were the ones who imposed our will on Houston. Not often do you see Houston get dominated like they did for nearly the entire 2nd half.
No UCONN juggernaut standing in our way this time. Beat Iowa and punch our ticket to the Final Four.
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I thought their physicality and tenacity would overwhelm us into submission but we were the ones who imposed our will on Houston. Not often do you see Houston get dominated like they did for nearly the entire 2nd half.
No UCONN juggernaut standing in our way this time. Beat Iowa and punch our ticket to the Final Four.
We basically beat him into their own submission. It was awesome.
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Huge win for the program. Was afraid Houston would be tougher than us and impose their will. We could be peaking at the right time. #freeshotsdontmatter
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What a fucking great day
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The home crowd got into the game and made some noise for the home team during a 2nd half Houston possession. Good for them, I'm glad they had something to cheer about.
We finished with 9 turnovers and going in I was worried about Houston turning us over a bunch.
Beat xxxx !!! We get the early game, 5:09 tip.
(https://i.ibb.co/BV1DtwJh/Screenshot-20260327-072242-Chrome.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hRq5yCNG)
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We caught them at the right time. They couldn't get anything to drop early.
Need Bos to get out of his offensive funk and Wagler to start finishing at the rim again. That dude catches so much contact but rarely gets calls.
Great win. Was not confident going in.
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Mirk and Wagler made some history last night.
First time 2 freshmen each had double doubles in an NCAA tournament game
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Mirk and Wagler made some history last night.
First time 2 freshmen each had double doubles in an NCAA tournament game
Awesome
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I don't know how +/- gets graded but we had everybody but Humrichous in plus territory. But he had a big smile when he hit his 3 to push the lead to 18. 😁
Houston had nobody.
(https://i.ibb.co/nNYrJ03W/Screenshot-20260327-084744-Chrome.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ycZ0jRh3)
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Mirk and Wagler made some history last night.
First time 2 freshmen each had double doubles in an NCAA tournament game
Well the rest of the basketball fanatic world gets to see what we already knew....those 2 are special
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FUCKING AWESOME!
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I have a mild headache
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Mirk has been so good of late. Stan Van Gundy knows.
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Mirk has been so good of late. Stan Van Gundy knows.
And Andrej. Kid was huge last night.
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Great win. If you would have told me we would score 65 I would have thought Houston would win that one.
Houston looked lost all night on offense.
Good team defense.
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Great win. If you would have told me we would score 65 I would have thought Houston would win that one.
Houston looked lost all night on offense.
Good team defense.
We can't let Iowa beat us. Good Lawd would I be hearing about that forever around here.
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Iowa playing their best ball right now.
Their role players are now scoring.
Need another strong defense effort.
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I have a mild headache
I started the day taking the ferry from Marin. I had my Purdue bike jersey on and when I was grabbing a coke at the snack bar some dude says “if you’re going to the game you should start with a Boilermaker!” The woman running the snack bar says “we have beer and we have Jack Daniels just saying”
At the game yesterday - my sister texted me and said “such and such wants to meet you” so we go to the concourse at halftime and such and such is a 70+ year old drunken lady decked out in spangly Purdue gear who says “I’m going to the bar, do you want a beer? Then you guys come with me, there are empty seats next to us” and drags us to the lower level where we were maybe 30 yards from the winning putback, and sitting right in front of John Lynch.
That sealed the deal, at dinner I had 2 Space dusts while watching the Illini romp. I’m hungover as shit.
What a fucking day!
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I have a mild headache
me too... ooof
but what a beautiful morning
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We can't let Iowa beat us. Good Lawd would I be hearing about that forever around here.
that would really be a kick in the nuts lol
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me too... ooof
but what a beautiful morning
You must have bet a lot on Houston!
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You must have bet a lot on Houston!
only 200, would do it again to keep the illini advancing
(https://i.imgur.com/e5mIbTl.jpeg)
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I have a mild headache
me too... ooof
but what a beautiful morning
I have no headache. I woke up early and feel great. Lol
A great win with some solid full game defense. We would play some defense in spurts during the season but we brung defense with us to Greenville and Houston.
Don't think about being on the short end vs xxxx. Don't even go there.
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only 200, would do it again to keep the illini advancing
Betting on Iowa is illegal.
What a complete punking. Houston had no fast break points and attempted only 2 free throws. We did the same to Penn and VCU. This defense is playing lights out but also not fouling - they are like magicians.
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The game was not as close as it looks. We missed a lot of free shots and layups.
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The game was not as close as it looks. We missed a lot of free shots and layups.
My buddy - Purdue fan - was like "You're more nervous than I was and we won on the last shot, you guys are up 13". Our cross to bear. We punked those guys.
Gotta love the guys on the score - "If you lose to Houston, you'll get over it. If they lose to Iowa, the season is ruined. It's a *moral imperative* to beat Iowa"
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^^^^
Truth.
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The game was not as close as it looks. We missed a lot of free shots and layups.
Boswell looked like the free throw line was the last place he wanted to be.
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rR3bPJdOMOg
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Boswell looked like the free throw line was the last place he wanted to be.
After his first 2 misses I am sure it was.....he is not immune to the crazed fandom we call ILLINI basketball. Imagine had he missed those or more and we would have lost......that hometown kid might have to be on a watch list somewhere.
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I wonder if recovering from a broken shooting hand affects free throw shooting?
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I suspect it's more the mental part of being in an NBA arena in the Sweet Sixteen up 15 on Houston.
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Mirkovic should be on the all-tournament radar. Not just offense but dude is 6-9/250 and defending decent perimeter shooters who couldn't buy a bucket yesterday.
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Great win. If you would have told me we would score 65 I would have thought Houston would win that one.
Houston looked lost all night on offense.
Good team defense.
For sure. The low total at halftime was worrisome.
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Mirkovic should be on the all-tournament radar. Not just offense but dude is 6-9/250 and defending decent perimeter shooters who couldn't buy a bucket yesterday.
As of today my guess first team would be:
Boozer (you know which one)
Acuff
Lendenborg
Smith
Reed
Based on teams that were still in past 1st rd. Alot of really good performances though.
Mirkovic/Wagler double double first time ever is great storyline for the MM tournament, but not sure thats enough to justify All Tourney 1st team.