#20 ILLINOIS 52        MINNESOTA 41

Who says a low scoring game can’t be exciting?  I enjoyed watching every minute of Illinois’ defensive clinic against Minnesota, and Minnesota’s D wasn’t too much worse.  I enjoyed seeing Illinois cause 20 turnovers.  I enjoyed watching the Illini register 11 steals and 6 blocks.  In a game where the final score would have been a halftime score in the ACC, there was plenty of action to get excited about.  Who else out there went nuts when Chester Frazier raised up for a monster block at the rim in the first half?  I forgot who was attempting the layup at the time, but I am sure the last thing they expected was for Frazier to redirect the heck out of that shot.

Now at 23 wins on the year and 11 in the Big Ten, Illinois is stilling a whole lot better than they did before the day started.  For that, we say thank you Michigan (that felt weird) for their 87-78 win last night against #16 Purdue.  The Illini are now a half game up on Purdue for 2nd in the Big 10, but still two back in the loss column to Michigan State.  The good news is the Spartans still have games left against Illinois and Purdue, so their schedule doesn’t get any easier. 

With Sparty coming up on Sunday, the Illini need to do one thing better to have a chance to win, and Loren Tate nailed it in today’s News-Gazette.  They got to rebound better.  This will be pretty tough since Michigan St. is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, but we can match them if we rebound using fundamentals instead of athleticism.  Last night was a bad example of fundamental rebounding by the Illini, and another performance like that on the glass could spell a loss against the Spartans. 

Let me know what you guys think about last night’s game.  I’m sure you all got some things to say, whether good or bad.  I have enjoyed reading all of the comments from the previous games, and I look forward to reading your thoughts again about this one.

I-L-L…

Program note:  I know this has nothing to do with the Illini, but News Talk 1400 is carrying High School basketball tonight around 7:30.   We're either doing the Class 2A regional final in Monticello between the Unity Rockets and the Sullivan Redskins, or the Big 12 season finale between the Central Maroons and the Normal West Wildcats.  Either way, we will have a pretty good game on the air tonight as Brian Moline and I bring you the action.