Good evening, Ladies & Gentlemen. Tonight, it's a little bit later start but one worth waiting for as the #13 Illinois Fighting Illini visit Mackey Arena to take on the #3 Purdue Boilermakers in a conference showdown. Tip is scheduled for around 9:00 pm (Eastern) with television coverage on ESPN. Illinois leads the conference standings (10-2; 17-5 overall), and Purdue is in second place a game back (9-3; 20-3 overall) and among a group of four teams with three conference losses. A Purdue win, and it climbs into a tie for first. An Illinois victory, and it maintains sole possession of first and puts more distance between the two teams in the standings.
These two teams met back on January 17 in Champaign-Urbana where Purdue outlasted Illinois in a thriller taking two overtimes, 96-88, one of the best games of the season, and tonight's affair shapes up to be another great contest. Purdue has won five straight, coming off a win at home against Michigan in which Trevion Williams had 19 points and one of his better games in a while during a recent slump. Illinoi has won its last four, after an impressive win at Indiana where Trent Frazier poured in 23 points.
Similarly to Purdue, look for Illinois to work the inside, as they have one of the premier centers in the country with Kofi Cockburn. Purdue is one of the few teams that can match-up with him with Zach Edey and Trevion Williams, and Edey had a solid game last time around with 20 points, eight rebounds and two blocks - effectively neutralizing Cockburn, who then was limited with foul trouble. Even so, Illinois still has plenty on the perimeter, and without Cockburn but with the addition of Andre Curbelo, Illinois caused a lot of problems for Purdue as Curbelo (20), Trent Frazier (16), and Alfonso Plummer (24) combined for 60 of Illinois' 88 points. Curbelo was particularly crafty in carving up Purdue's half-court defense.
Along with Zach Edey, Sasha Stefanovic was extremely effective on offense with 22 points on 5/8 shooting from beyond the arc. Uncharacteristically, he was only 5/9 from the FT line, but he did have 8 rebounds as well. It was an all-around team effort from the Boilers as Trevion Williams and Jaden Ivey went a combined 9/28 from the field and yet the Boilers still prevailed - partly from a solid 26/32 from the charity stripe, including Jaden Ivey's 13/15. Jaden Ivey was effective in drawing defenders to him and creating opportunities, he just wasn't able to hit many of his FG attempts, which were mostly 2-pt attempts.
I would expect Illinois and Purdue won't change much up initially and try to work inside outside. One of the tough things for opponents of both these teams is that even if one or two players are off that night, plenty of others can step up. I wouldn't expect Kofi Cockburn to be as limited as the previous game, and on the same hand, I wouldn't expect Trevion Williams or Jaden Ivey to have the same sub-par shooting nights. Purdue is going to need to limit the Illini back-court a little better than last time around.....Trent Frazier might be the key there. For Illinois, I think they'll want to try and contain Jaden Ivey and Sasha Stefanovic - that will open up some opportunities for Eric Hunter, Ethan Morton, and Mason Gillis/Caleb Furst. Isaiah Thompson has had his ups and downs lately, but if Purdue gets some productive minutes from him - that will be a big lift.
It will also be interesting to see how this game gets called - I would expect things could get a little physical. Regardless, this should be hotly contested and very well could come down to the last few possessions like the previous game. Illinois and Purdue usually have an edge on the glass over the opponent, and each team has also had some turnover issues from time to time. Look for the team controlling the pace more to have the edge and better opportunity to prevail with more possessions.
A win tonight for either team is huge......can the Boilers get back to the top of the conference and keep it rolling in February, or will the Illini take a big step toward winning the conference and great positioning for a March run? We shall see.....
Boiler up, my friends.....
These two teams met back on January 17 in Champaign-Urbana where Purdue outlasted Illinois in a thriller taking two overtimes, 96-88, one of the best games of the season, and tonight's affair shapes up to be another great contest. Purdue has won five straight, coming off a win at home against Michigan in which Trevion Williams had 19 points and one of his better games in a while during a recent slump. Illinoi has won its last four, after an impressive win at Indiana where Trent Frazier poured in 23 points.
Similarly to Purdue, look for Illinois to work the inside, as they have one of the premier centers in the country with Kofi Cockburn. Purdue is one of the few teams that can match-up with him with Zach Edey and Trevion Williams, and Edey had a solid game last time around with 20 points, eight rebounds and two blocks - effectively neutralizing Cockburn, who then was limited with foul trouble. Even so, Illinois still has plenty on the perimeter, and without Cockburn but with the addition of Andre Curbelo, Illinois caused a lot of problems for Purdue as Curbelo (20), Trent Frazier (16), and Alfonso Plummer (24) combined for 60 of Illinois' 88 points. Curbelo was particularly crafty in carving up Purdue's half-court defense.
Along with Zach Edey, Sasha Stefanovic was extremely effective on offense with 22 points on 5/8 shooting from beyond the arc. Uncharacteristically, he was only 5/9 from the FT line, but he did have 8 rebounds as well. It was an all-around team effort from the Boilers as Trevion Williams and Jaden Ivey went a combined 9/28 from the field and yet the Boilers still prevailed - partly from a solid 26/32 from the charity stripe, including Jaden Ivey's 13/15. Jaden Ivey was effective in drawing defenders to him and creating opportunities, he just wasn't able to hit many of his FG attempts, which were mostly 2-pt attempts.
I would expect Illinois and Purdue won't change much up initially and try to work inside outside. One of the tough things for opponents of both these teams is that even if one or two players are off that night, plenty of others can step up. I wouldn't expect Kofi Cockburn to be as limited as the previous game, and on the same hand, I wouldn't expect Trevion Williams or Jaden Ivey to have the same sub-par shooting nights. Purdue is going to need to limit the Illini back-court a little better than last time around.....Trent Frazier might be the key there. For Illinois, I think they'll want to try and contain Jaden Ivey and Sasha Stefanovic - that will open up some opportunities for Eric Hunter, Ethan Morton, and Mason Gillis/Caleb Furst. Isaiah Thompson has had his ups and downs lately, but if Purdue gets some productive minutes from him - that will be a big lift.
It will also be interesting to see how this game gets called - I would expect things could get a little physical. Regardless, this should be hotly contested and very well could come down to the last few possessions like the previous game. Illinois and Purdue usually have an edge on the glass over the opponent, and each team has also had some turnover issues from time to time. Look for the team controlling the pace more to have the edge and better opportunity to prevail with more possessions.
A win tonight for either team is huge......can the Boilers get back to the top of the conference and keep it rolling in February, or will the Illini take a big step toward winning the conference and great positioning for a March run? We shall see.....
Boiler up, my friends.....
