After a week’s worth of waiting, the No. 16 Illini will be back in action for a Sunday clash at home against Colgate. The noon tipoff will see Illinois take the court at the State Farm Center for the first time since Nov. 24, where it dismantled Western Illinois by an 84-52 margin.
“Coming off a very, very busy week last week with three games on the road, itʼs nice to settle in with no games during a very challenging time with,” said head coach Brad Underwood.
The Illini haven’t been slacking off during the week away from games, as the time was spent in high-intensity practices following the loss to No. 17 Tennessee last Saturday.
“These practices are intense, you know coach has been getting on us,” said sophomore guard Ty Rodgers. “Weʼre running a lot, getting a lot of conditioning in and weʼre getting the chance to get better so we love these.”
Illinois will look to jump back into the win column on Sunday, though the previous week saw a plethora of highlights despite falling behind Knoxville. Aside from the Volunteers defeat, the three-game road trip consisted of a statement victory over Rutgers at the RAC and a massive upset over No. 11 Florida Atlantic at Madison Square Garden.
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“I thought we had a really good week on the road,” Underwood said. “A little disappointing, obviously, with the Tennessee loss, but a lot to learn from that. Give Tennessee credit, it’s hard to go on the road and beat a top-10 team in their building, but I thought we did some positive things.”
Next up for Underwood’s squad is a 6-4 Colgate team, a program that Illinois hasn’t shared the floor with since 2013. Historically, the Illini hold an undefeated record against the Raiders after four meetings, with the most recent result being a dominant 75-55 home victory a little over a decade ago.
“Now we get Colgate, who’s exceptional,” Underwood said. “Theyʼre very, very big. Theyʼre an NCAA tournament team. Theyʼre extremely well-coached. Theyʼre different, this’ll be a Big Ten-prep type team in terms of the physicality, the size.”
With the Raiders boasting two forwards six-foot-ten inches or taller, Illini forwards senior Coleman Hawkins, graduate student Quincy Guerrier and redshirt junior Dain Dainja will all have their work cut out for them in the paint.
Illinois men’s basketball is back in Champaign, and with Sunday serving as the penultimate home game of the calendar year, the Illini will be hungry for a big result out of the State Farm Center.
“Youʼve got to respect every opponent,” Rodgers said. “Youʼve got to play every game like itʼs a championship game.”
@james_kim15
