Friday night brings the men’s basketball version of the LOL Hat game (1 of 2 every season) with the football version just having completed this past Saturday at Wrigley Field. Illini basketball will look to make it a sweep for the orange and blue.
One of the main story lines here is the environment. How will the Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd be split, percentage wise, between Northwestern and Illinois supporters?
Illini basketball at Northwestern Wildcats FYIs
Tip: 8pm CST, BTN
Illini Basketball Content: Media Day Bingo Sheet Will Riley NBA Draft Stock Report
Tickets: every ticket is in the low $100s and good seats are in the upper $200s
Odds: Not out yet ESPN Basketball Power Index: Illini win 77.4% Northwestern win 22.6%
Northwestern Wildcats (6-2, 0-0 Big Ten, Net #73, KenPom #63) Preview
Northwestern coach Chris Collins pointed out how his side went 9-1 in the league (Iowa was the only loss) last season, and that the fans were a big reason why.
“It’s been a huge part of us getting to that level,” Collins said.
“I think that had been a part of why we hadn’t gotten over the hump in a lot of those years- we had been 5-5 at home of 6-4, and when you do that, it puts so much pressure then on getting a lot of road wins- which are just so hard to come by.”
“The home court advantage is real, and I really thought last year in the league, I thought that they were maybe 3,4, 5 games, if you include the Dayton game, where we could have easily lost if our fans didn’t pull us through.”
“To see Welsh-Ryan the way it is now, the energy, to see it become a real home, we have to keep that. Because it’s only going getting harder.”
Northwestern travels to Iowa City for a matchup with the Hawkeyes tonight, so they will be at a big disadvantage here versus Illinois when it comes to rest.
The Illini will enter this one having last played on Thanksgiving, when they beat a nationally ranked Arkansas team handily in Kansas City.
Northwestern has won 50 games over the past three seasons, which ranks third in the Big Ten, behind only Purdue (70) and Illinois (55). The Cats have won 24 Big Ten league games over the past two seasons, trailing only the Boilermakers (32) and Illini (25).
Nick Martinelli, averaging 20.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game this season and Brooks Barnhizer (20.0 and 8.0) are two of the only four high-major players posting at least a 20 and 6 average this season.
Fun fact: Northwestern was the only Big Ten school to win both a bowl game and a NCAA Tournament game last season.
Illini Basketball (6-1, 0-0 in Big Ten, Net #10, Polls #19 AP, #17 Coaches, KenPom #15) Preview
Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood has team that is completely unrecognizable, personnel wise, from last season.
These are all new dudes from last year’s Elite 8 squad, but that is commonplace in college hoops these days. However, all these transfers and freshmen…can really ball.
This Illini basketball team is looking like a bonafide league title contender, and ss it stands, they have a NCAA Tournament profile befitting a #3 to a #5 seed.
Against Arkansas, freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis (who joins Riley in having some pretty high draft stock) scored a career-high 23 points while going 7-for-13 FG and 7/8 FT versus Arkansas.
The Illini went 15-for-31 from 3-point range against John Calipari’s guys, their third game with 15+ treys this season. The 48.4% on 3-pointers marked their best 3-pt % of the campaign thus far.
If they shoot anything remotely close to that on Friday night, this one will be decisive.
Fun Fact: Underwood now has 149 wins, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the Illini basketball program’s all-time coaching wins list.
Prediction: Illini basketball 91, Northwestern 89
It could be a very pretty affair, aesthetically, and it may not be decided until the very end. NU will play hard, but their talent level just can’t keep up with what Illinois has, plus the Illini are looking to avenge their defeat up here from last season.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.