Illinois basketball Recently, a five-game winning streak was snapped with a home loss to Big Ten Conference newcomer USC, but the Fighting Illini remain in the overall mix for the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Brad Underwood has Illinois basketball to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten, dropping five spots to 20th in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll Monday after a big win against Penn State and the loss to USC.
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Each week, the Journal Star will look back at the Illini’s previous week and evaluate how their resume has changed and compares to the competition.
Illinois basketball results last week
January 8: 91-52 victory against Penn State — The Fighting Illini won their fifth straight game, scoring 20 or more points from three players in the home victory. Last season’s Illinois Mr. Basketball, freshman Morez Johnson, recorded his second double-double, with 11 rebounds and a career-high 20 points. Ben Humrichous scored a game-high 21, while Tre White scored 20.
January 12: 82-72 loss to USC — The Illini played their second game without injured point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, also their first Big Ten loss of the season. Four Illini scored in double figures: Hunrichous (15), Dra Gibbs-Lawthorn (11), White (11) and Kylan Boswell (10). Desmond Claude led USC with 31 points.
Illinois basketball games this week
Tuesday January 14: Away game at 6 p.m. against Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
Sunday January 19: Road game at 11 a.m. at No. 19 Michigan State at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., the first of two games.
Illinois Net Rankings: n°9 | Last week: #7
All rankings come in Monday.
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Quad 1 recording: 4-3
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Quad 2 recording: 2-0
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Quad 3 recording: 0-1
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Quad 4 recording: 6-0
Illinois KenPom Ranking: n°13 | Last week #11
All rankings come in Monday.
Illinois Bracketology Projections
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Fox Sports: 3rd seed vs. 14th seed Miami (Ohio) in the East Region (as of January 10)
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ESPN: 3 seed vs. 14 seed St. Louis in the East Region: Milwaukee (as of January 10)
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Clutch points: 3 seed vs. 14 seed Akron (as of January 13)
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Le3: 2 seed against 15 Central Connecticut State in the East Region: Milwaukee (as of January 5)
Will Illinois basketball make the NCAA tournament?
There are a number of criteria that the NCAA Tournament selection committee looks at in order to make its evaluation in addition to subjective evaluations like the “eyeball test.” Among them:
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Save: The team’s overall record, conference record and non-conference record.
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Strength of schedule: The strength of the teams the team played against.
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Head-to-head results: Match results between teams compared.
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Conference Championships: Whether a conference championship was won in the regular season or tournament.
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Common adversaries: Results of matches against common opponents.
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Adjusted net efficiency (NET): The NCAA’s preferred metric measuring a team’s overall performance during the regular season.
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Team Value Index: A results-oriented component of the NET that ranks teams based on who they beat and where they played.
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Rating Percentage Index (RPI): A formula that ranks teams based on a team’s winning percentage, opponents’ success, and opponents’ strength of schedule.
This article was originally published on Journal Star: Illinois basketball updated NCAA tournament recap for March Madness
