With only 40 minutes of basketball to go in Champaign this season, the No. 12 Illini will be preparing to take the floor against the No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday night. With the visitors already having staked their claim in a share of the Big Ten regular season title, Illinois will be in for a tough test in its home finale of 2023-24.
“This league is so good, and yet they’re the second game we’ve played against a ranked opponent in league play,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “And what they’ve done, they’ve been the talk of college basketball all year. Obviously, Zach (Edey) is going to be National Player of the Year again, so there’s a ton of attention put on that. But it’s another conference game, it’s a great opponent and I’ve got all the respect.”
The Illini will seek revenge against the Boilermakers after losing the first encounter in West Lafayette, Indiana, back in early January. Then-No. 1 Purdue was able to hold off a late surge by Illinois to survive with an 83-78 result. Currently holding a 26-3 overall record and a 15-3 record in Big Ten play, stopping the Boilermakers even at home will be far from an easy task for the Illini.
“They’re a team that probably are odds on favored to win a national championship, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to go out there and fight and compete,” Underwood said. “It’s another game, and we want to find out and measure where we’re at and see if we’re better than we were two months ago.”
However, the top-15 battle will mean so much more to the fans in Champaign than just another conference clash. Tuesday night will see the final State Farm Center appearances for several Illini stars as the program celebrates its Senior Night.
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Seven players will be recognized, including fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr., senior forward Coleman Hawkins, graduate student forwards Marcus Domask and Quincy Guerrier, graduate student guard Justin Harmon, senior guard Max Williams and junior guard Luke Goode, the latter of whom will be graduating from the Gies College of Business.
“(I’ve) just been part of a lot,” Hawkins said. “Part of history now, so it means a lot to have been here for four years and be in a community that shows a lot of respect and a fanbase that really cares about you. It’s been a quick but great four years. It really went by fast.”
It’d be hard to come up with a sweeter Senior Night sendoff than with a win over a top-three opponent. The Illini put in an impressive showing against the Boilermakers on Jan. 5 and nearly pulled off the comeback without Shannon in the lineup. However, putting a stop to this red-hot Purdue team, which features reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey, will be a tall order regardless of who is on the floor for Underwood’s squad.
All questions will be answered at 6 p.m. on Tuesday as Illinois tips off for the final time in Champaign against Purdue.
“They’ve proven to be human at times and been knocked off,” Underwood said. “We’ve gotta go out, and I expect we’ll get their best game. We’re gonna try and give them our hardest.”
@james_kim15
