That was a wild, entertaining game. I felt like I was watching a Loyola Marymount game from the Westhead years, just running and gunning. Both teams were lights out shooting, but the rebounding advantage was lopsided and there was no way Iowa could win being dominated like that on the boards, it didn't matter how many turnovers the Illini had when they are getting that many second-chance opportunities. Will Riley is the undisputed offensive leader of this team, and they are better for it. I am going to miss tonight's game unfortunately, but hopefully will be able to catch a look here or there. If they figure out a way to get around a stout team like Maryland, I think we can all start to feel really good about this team again. What a turnaround, I thought they were dead after the Duke thrashing, I have to hand it to them for rallying since then.

Oh yeah, Payton Sandfort was unconscious from three last night, that was a ridiculous performance by him.

Sandfort was unconscious. Great effort by that young man.

I hardly ever pull for the Illini to win, but I cannot stand ole Fran. Glad to see him get kicked out and going out of his career like the baby that he has always been.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

This fucking team. Elite 8 or first round out. There is no in between.

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Why does Illinois never learn how to take care of the ball? Geez. Let’s see how the brackets fall. Katz currently has them as a 6 and playing in Milwaukee.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Ah, so the ceiling isn't the Final Four anymore.

I watched most of last nights game between Texas and Xavier, and I think Friday night's matchup with Xavier is a favorable one, though not without concern. The one thing that stands out to me is that Illinois should crush them on the glass, I didn't see anyone on the floor for Xavier that seemed to me can stand up to Illinois' size and aggressiveness rebounding the ball. I don't know anything about Xavier outside of last nights game, but their reliance on the 3-pointer reminded me a bit of what we saw from Iowa last week. Iowa shot lights out that night and still got hammered by Illinois because they couldn't get a rebound. What worries me is that if Xavier shoots the way they did last night in the second half and Illinois is in one of their dreadful "2-20 from beyond the arc" stretches. If Illinois simply shoots 30% from three they win this game easily, in my opinion. They have to avoid one of those horrible shooting droughts.

Xavier was incredibly scrappy last night. I think Illinois is vulnerable.

No doubt Illinios is vulnerable. They could lose by 15 to X or they could make the sweet 16. Just depends on their mood

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I've got Illini losing to Xavier round 1.

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Would not surprise me at all.

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It would be my second favorite story of the week.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

With Xavier at a moneyline of only +150, there isn't a whole lot of confidence in the Illini out there.

Same goes for the following teams in Round 1:
Michigan
BYU
Purdue
Ole Miss
Oregon

All of these are fairly poor money lines considering the seeding

I guess I am in the minority - I think Illinois cruises in this one, Xavier can't match up with Illinois' physicality.

This is a tight collar and a coaching issue. As it always is with Illinois. It will show up. Either tomorrow or Sunday. There will be no mythical run where everything is in tune.

I certainly don't have Illinois making a deep run on any of my sheets because they haven't proven they can beat top-10 teams. And as I said in my post this morning, nothing can protect them if they hit the skids from the 3-point line and go ice cold. I think they will be OK tonight, but it wouldn't blow my mind if they got beat. They are a roller coaster.

"Any of my sheets"....do you have a "Sheet of Integrity?"

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I have one sheet of integrity for my work pool. The one I played in my sons pool is a little more aggressive and full of upsets.

Nice game tonight. Will Riley is a fucking star, it’s about time he is free to roam and create and score. This kid is special.

OHHH GOOOD FOR YOU! AND HOW WAS IT?

If they took about half as many threes they'd be almost unbeatable.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

At the volume of threes they take coupled with winning the rebound battle, if they just consistently shoot 30% or better from behind the arc, they would be nearly unbeatable. It’s when they face bigger stronger teams that can hang with them on the glass where things get bad.

The problem is they're terrible from behind the arc but the entire offense is designed around firing from out there.

The offense should be built around Riley.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

He really is. You can see the confidence building in him. Kentucky has some big men down low. I'd like to see him and KJ attack the basket early and try to get them in foul trouble.

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I saw some comments from underwood from this week where he indicates that he KNOWS they are a poor shooting team, but he knows that the percentages are in his favor when they dominate the boards and have a better than 50% chance of an offensive board. It’s a good strategy against bad rebounding teams like Iowa and Xavier. The problem they will eventually run into is against big physical teams that match up with them rebounding. On those nights they NEED to get to the basket and score down low primarily, and shoot open 3’s only as a secondary option. I really hope tomorrow they do as mentioned above and let Riley and KJ penetrate and draw fouls. And Tre White should be out there because he is the most sure “wide open” three-point shooter on the team. That guy is an assassin when they find him wide open for three.

Averaging a turnover per minute. Good start.

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Is Underwood drunk?

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Why do refs reward it when a guy shot fakes and then lunges forward three feet while "shooting" to draw a foul?

Ivisic just got stuffed on a three attempt. Their raping days may be over for the season.

Embarrassing how they came out to start the second half. Can tell which team has an actual coach.