Behind the Mic

One Down....One To Go

Posted by: Brian Barnhart

Saturday, February 14, 2009 4:20 PM

The atmosphere at Welsh-Ryan Arena was amazing on Thursday night.  In fact... it felt like a "Braggin Rights" game...with half the crowd in orange...the other half in purple and as the intensity of the game rose in the final few minutes ...so did the noise level.

The Illini wont have half the crowd in Bloomington on Sunday...although several of the $ 5.00 balcony tickets the Hooiser ticket office was selling went to people that might show up wearing Orange clothing.

In fact...the Hoosiers are having a "Stripe Day" with different sections of the crowd wearing red or white depending on where they are sitting...which should make for an interesting visual.

But the crowd Sunday will be overwhelmingly pro-Indiana and they want nothing more than to take down the Illini.  Tom Crean's team has struggled to win games this year...but they have been extremely tough to beat.  One of the handful of times they have been blown out was in Champaign in Janauary when the Illini won by 31 points which was a record for this series.  Plus... Hoosiers fans just dont like Illinois...and the reverse is also true...which makes the rivalry what it is.

After not winning a road game for a month...the Illini have a chance to make it two in a row....but as was the case in Evanston....be prepared for a possible nail-biter at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. 

I dont know about you...but after that last game on Thursday night...I dont have many fingernails left.

 

 

 

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