Illinois will be trying to improve its NCAA Tournament seeding when it travels to No. 5 Purdue for a regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon. The Fighting Illini are coming off a much-needed win against Michigan in double overtime on Thursday, keeping them in a tie for second place in the Big Ten. Purdue has already clinched the conference title and is fighting for a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance.
Illinois has been a team that has been good but not great for almost the entire season, hovering around the .500 mark in conference play for most of the year. The Illini lost three out of four games in early February before bouncing back with wins against Minnesota and No. 21 Northwestern, but they proceeded to suffer a terrible loss to Ohio State last Sunday. They were able to bounce back with a senior night win against Michigan in double overtime on Thursday, improving to 20-10 (11-8 Big Ten). Illinois entered Saturday’s slate tied with five other teams for second place in the conference standings.
Left everything on the floor.#Illini | #HTTO | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/C7smdrmcN9
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) March 4, 2023
The Illini were projected as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament as of Friday, so they could certainly use a resume-boosting win on Sunday afternoon. They do have some impressive wins under their belt, beating UCLA and Texas in non-conference play. Grad transfer Matthew Mayer scored 24 points to lead Illinois in its win over Michigan after missing several days of practice due to what he called “caffeine poisoning” from drinking five Monster energy drinks. Senior guard Terrence Shannon added 21 points and is the team’s leading scorer with 17.9 points per game. Mayer scored the first five points of the second overtime session and finished with seven rebounds.
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