Illinois Basketball: Overview of the Next 3 Illini Games
Dec 3, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach John Groce yells out during the first half against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Illinois basketball team is currently 8-3 on the season with two more games left in the non-conference.
Illinois needs to continue winning if they want their shot at making the NCAA Tournament this season.
Here is an overview of the next three games for the Illini.
BYU Cougars
Illinois comes into the game against the BYU Cougars hoping to move to 9-3 on the season. I am worried about the week layoff, though.
BYU enters this game 7-3 on the season but has lost three out of their last six games.
The biggest win this season for BYU came against Colorado in the last game they played. They beat the Buffalos 79-71 and shot an impressive 44.8-percent from the field.
BYU also got to the line nine more times than Colorado as well. This was a huge advantage despite only making two more free throws.
The Cougars also have three losses on the season and one of those losses is pretty bad.
BYU fell to Utah Valley who is 5-4 on the season. While this Wolverines team has played some tough competition tight, there is no excuse for the Cougars to lose this game.
Utah Valley put up an amazing 114 points against BYU and this bodes well for the Illini. If BYU continues to play defense like this, then Illinois should be able to hover around the 100-point mark.
The other two losses for BYU came against Valparaiso and USC.
The Crusaders have a pretty good ball club. They are 8-2 this season with the only two losses coming to No. 4 Oregon and No. 6 Kentucky. That isn’t bad by any means.
USC is also a pretty talented basketball team. They are 9-0 this season and have now cracked the top 25 at No. 24 this week.
This game should be interesting to see if the Illini defense can hold BYU to under 80 points. If they can then I think Illinois wins this game.
Dec 3, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) drives to the basket as Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Jordan Burgess (20) applies press during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Missouri Tigers
The Braggin’ Rights game is interesting every year. This is a game that no matter how bad the teams are it always seems to be close at the end.
Missouri comes into this game 5-4 and isn’t looking too good. They have really been in a decline as a program over the last five years.
Out of the wins that Missouri has this season, they haven’t beaten a single team that has a winning record.
I can’t really classify any victory has a ‘best win’ because none of them are even close to good wins this season.
Missouri has two of their five wins against teams with .500 records and those two teams are Miami (OH) and Northwestern State.
The Tigers also have four losses on the season as well.
They competed against No. 11 Xavier and actually took them to overtime before losing 83-82. This was easily the best game they have played this season.
Missouri has also lost to No. 20 Arizona. This wasn’t a bad loss because the Wildcats are clearly a better team than the Tigers.
But, Missouri did lose some pretty bad games, though.
The Tigers fell to the North Carolina Central Eagles 62-52. They are 6-5 on the season and I believe are in high school class 3A in North Carolina.
Missouri’s other loss was to Davidson by 15 points.
This Tigers team is not good and if Illinois falls in this game then the postseason chances for the Illini would be in grave danger.
Dec 3, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) shoots over Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Doug Brooks (5) during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Maryland Terrapins
The next game that Illinois should have a hard time with is the Maryland Terrapins.
Illinois should finish the non-conference with a 10-3 record and this would set up a nice entrance into Big Ten Conference play.
The Illini’s first game in Big Ten play is against Maryland. This is a team that has played pretty well this season but finds themselves still outside the top 25.
Maryland is currently 11-1 with their only loss coming to Pittsburgh by 14 points. The Panthers are a solid team that has an 8-2 record this season.
But, besides for that one little hiccup, the Terrapins have played flawless basketball.
Maryland has a win at Georgetown and they also beat Oklahoma State and Kansas State as well. These are all wins that should count toward the top 25.
The Terrapins also have some pretty good talent on the team as well.
Melo Trimble leads the way for Maryland. He returned from a solid season last year and is averaging 17.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game.
Maryland also has a freshman sensation in Justin Jackson. He has averaged 11.3 PPG and 6.1 RPG this season.
The Terrapins should be the next tough test for the Illini. This game will be at Maryland so that makes it even tougher for Illinois.
But, I think there are enough flaws on this Maryland team where the Illini can attack. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Illini pull out a win here, as long as they hold the Terrapins to under 70 points.
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