hhcmatt Posted 18 hours ago Report Posted 18 hours ago Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-8) vs #18 Fighting Illini (14-6) Date: Thursday Jan. 30th, 2025 Time: 7:30 pm CST Arena: PBA Broadcast: FS1 (Kevin Kugler and Nick Bahe) Illinois Info Head Coach: Brad Underwood (7th season) Location: Champaign, IL Conference: B1G Nickname: Fightin' Illini Mascot: Chief Illiniwek They got rid of Chief Illiniwek in 2007 Line: Illinois by 3.5 Typical Rotation Depth: 8 KenPom rank: 11 Nota bene: Starting center Tomislav Ivisic is out with mono Illinois is one of the lengthiest teams in D-1, ranking 10th in KenPom's height stat The Illini are ranked despite turning over the roster (345th in KenPom minutes continuity) and having a young roster (294th in D-1 experience) Illinois is 3pt centeric, ranking 21st in 3pa/fga offensively while ranking 5th in defensive 3pa/fga Nebraska is looking for their 3rd win over a ranked team in one season since 2013-14 Fred Hoiberg is 0-8 vs Illinois at Nebraska Last game Brice Williams scored enough points for him and his father to become the 7th father-son duo to combine for over 4000 points combine at the D-1 level. Player to watch: Kasparas Jakucionis The Lithuanian freshman has exceeded all expectations and is listed as a lottery pick on multiple mock draft sites. KJ leads the team in scoring and assists as well as 3pt percentage at 37.5% As one of the primary ball handlers can be turnover prone. Player to watch: Morez Johnson With starting center Tomislav Ivisic out with illness, Johnson is the man in the post and he's been impressive, going for 15 and 9 in his last game. Offensively he's the only traditional type center who plays so he's the only Illini who is not a threat to pop a 3. He's a high contact player so there is a chance he gets a Husker in foul trouble while also getting himself in foul trouble. Player to watch: Ben Humrichous The Evansville stretch 4 might be a matchup problem for the Huskers when Johnson is off the court as he's basically a 6'9" 3pt specialist and there will not be anyone in the post to guard if he's their 5 man. Illinois's Roster Player # Class Pos Height Weight Summary Kasparas Jakucionis 32 FR G 6-6 205 15.9 Pts 5.4 Reb 5.4 Ast Kylan Boswell 4 JR G 6-2 195 12.3 Pts 5.5 Reb 3.9 Ast Tomislav Ivisic 13 FR C 7-1 255 13.0 Pts 8.5 Reb 2.0 Ast Tre White 22 JR G 6-7 210 10.3 Pts 5.4 Reb 1.1 Ast Will Riley 7 FR F 6-8 195 10.1 Pts 3.6 Reb 1.7 Ast Ben Humrichous 3 SR F 6-9 220 8.9 Pts 3.7 Reb 0.9 Ast Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn 2 SO G 6-1 185 7.6 Pts 2.0 Reb 0.5 Ast Morez Johnson 21 FR F 6-9 255 6.5 Pts 6.6 Reb 0.2 Ast Jake Davis 15 SO F 6-6 210 3.1 Pts 1.6 Reb 0.3 Ast Carey Booth 0 SO F 6-10 203 1.4 Pts 1.2 Reb 0.1 Ast Other Players Jr PG and second leading scorer Kylan Boswell has struggled from 3 this season after shooting over 37.9% in his first two seasons at Arizona. Tre White is a 6'7" slasher on his 3rd school in 3 years. True freshman Will Riley has struggled to score in conference. Notre Dame transfer stretch 4 Casey Booth isn't getting much run but could see action with Ivisic out. 6'1" guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is somehow hitting 71.4% from 2 and 29% from 3 and I will have to see this in action as I've yet to seriously watch Illinois play this season. UNL Game Notes Roster/infirmary report Possible starters for Nebraska 3 Guard Brice Williams 6-7 214 lbs Senior 1 Guard Sam Hoiberg 6-0 185 lbs Junior 4 Forward Juwan Gary 6-6 226 lbs Senior 23 Forward Andrew Morgan 6-10 242 lbs Senior 24 Guard Rollie Worster 6-5 210 lbs Senior Bench 34 Center Braxton Meah 7-1 264 lbs Senior 0 Guard Connor Essegian 6-4 190 lbs Junior 2 Guard Ahron Ulis 6-3 190 lbs Senior 9 Forward Berke Büyüktuncel 6-10 244 lbs 31 Guard Cale Jacobsen 6-4 195 lbs Sophomore 12 Guard Gavin Griffiths 6-7 193 lbs Sophomore 5 Forward Braden Frager 6-7 220 lbs Freshman 8 Guard Jeffrey Grace III 6-3 200 lbs Junior 20 Forward Justin Bolis 6-8 225 lbs Sophomore 25 Guard Nick Janowski 6-4 208 lbs Freshman 35 Forward Henry Burt 6-7 222 lbs Sophomore Out for year 51 Forward Rienk Mast 6-10 260 lbs Senior Fred Hoiberg Presser We have lost our identity. Yikes! We are airing our grievances. Yikes! The Skinny: Brad Underwood teams when on a roll show no quarter. This season they have beaten Oregon on the road by 32 and Indiana on the road by 25. They whopped Penn St by 39 at home. If they're making 3s, looking out. The Huskers will need all the juice they can muster defensively if they want to put an end to this 6 game January skid. Defensively, the only thing Illinois doesn't do is turn you over as they spend most of their time running you off the 3pt line into shot blockers. They generally do so without fouling so Nebraska will need to earn points in the paint. Offensively, they take 3s and gain extra possessions by crashing the boards and/or securing ricochets from said 3s. While Johnson is your main threat to rebound, this lengthy team isn't a one man show. Can Nebraska slow down Illinois enough to keep the Huskers in this game? Prediction: Illinois 82 - Nebraska 72 View full article LNKtrnsplnt and Shawn Eichorst's Toupee 1 1 Quote
AuroranHusker Posted 11 hours ago Report Posted 11 hours ago You called it on ILL crashing the glass. Refs let that be a free-for-all at times, but eventually NU snared some boards late in crunch time. B1G one tonight, indeed, for Fred. Quote
hhcmatt Posted 4 hours ago Author Report Posted 4 hours ago 6 hours ago, AuroranHusker said: You called it on ILL crashing the glass. Refs let that be a free-for-all at times, but eventually NU snared some boards late in crunch time. B1G one tonight, indeed, for Fred. Too bad my score did not have faith they can shoot under 25% from 3 Quote
hskr4life Posted 1 hour ago Report Posted 1 hour ago 3 hours ago, hhcmatt said: Too bad my score did not have faith they can shoot under 25% from 3 TBF, they did at one point make it up above 30% on threes before dropping to finish again. Which is remarkable considering how they shot in the 1st half. Quote
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