It’s been an icy week in Champaign, but no amount of weather is going to prevent a matchup that has been building for weeks. Illinois (17-8, 9-6) will host No. 11 Michigan State (19-5, 10-3) for a Saturday night Big Ten contest with revenge on the line.
A B1G rematch
Illinois has struggled in the last two meetings against Michigan State, including a loss earlier this season. Saturday gives Illinois one upper hand that it didn’t have in those losses: home-court advantage.
The Illini have won the last three when the Spartans came to town and would love to make it four. Apparently, so would Illini fans — the matchup has been one of the hottest tickets in Champaign this month.
When these teams faced off on Jan. 19, Illinois got the first punch in. It led by nine points multiple times in the first half, but a few factors caused the lead to evaporate and swing by 16 points.
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For starters, nobody knew that sophomore center Tomislav Ivišić had contracted mononucleosis. The big man was sick but played through it against the Spartans, which resulted in a poor shooting performance. A 1-6 outing from three hurt the Illini, but the Croatian is recovering and was 6-8 in his last two games.
After struggling for weeks in major conference competition, freshman forward Will Riley was a bright spot for Illinois. The Canadian only reached double figures once in his first seven conference games, which came in an extremely inefficient effort at Northwestern. His new confidence began in East Lansing, and he has averaged 19 points per game in his last five.
The Spartans countered this with an all-around effort. Six players scored eight or more points in an unselfish outing. Every player who entered the game scored and grabbed at least two rebounds. The power of friendship — when a basketball team doesn’t need a star to carry the roster and everyone contributes — was too much for the Illini in January, but it’s a new month.
1 team getting hot, 1 not
After a stretch in which the Illini had three starters miss time for various reasons, the hosts are starting to find themselves. They’ve won three of their last four contests, including a statement against a pretty solid UCLA (18-7, 9-5) team.
On the other side of the floor, Michigan State has lost three of its last four. It also needed to overcome a 14-point deficit during its only victory in that span, so the Spartans have not been playing their best ball.
Welcome home TSJ
As if the game couldn’t get any more exciting between two elite Big Ten rivals, former Illinois star guard Terrence Shannon Jr. is returning to the State Farm Center. As the NBA heads into the All-Star break, the rookie guard has some time on his hands during which he will visit Champaign for the first time this season.
His honored jersey ceremony will take place at halftime. The former Illini will raise his No. 0 into the rafters, officially honoring his two years with the program. This comes as Shannon finally gets some run in the NBA due to injuries with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He’s been in double figures the last two games as he finds his footing at the next level. But on Saturday night, Shannon will be in attendance for a 7 p.m. tipoff in front of a sold-out crowd.
@benfader7
