Illinois (13-14, 7-10) is home at the State Farm Center for its final regular season game of a bumpy 2023-24 season. With the Nebraska Cornhuskers (19-9, 11-6) aiming to win No. 20 of the season, the Illini look to get back to .500 and send their seniors off to the Big Ten tournament after honoring their contributions to Illini basketball.
The Senior Day ceremony is scheduled for postgame, when five of the team’s managers and six players will be celebrated for their college basketball careers. According to the team, the players honored will be senior guards Genesis Bryant and Makira Cook, fifth-year guard Jada Peebles and center Camille Hobby, senior forward Kendall Bostic and senior center Aicha Ndour.
Except for Hobby, each player listed has one more year of eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 year given to every athlete whose sport was impacted by the pandemic. As of now, all of the players have yet to explicitly state their intentions to utilize this option.
Looking toward the game itself: Illinois comes off one of its biggest losses of the season after being thoroughly handled by Michigan State in an 87-70 loss that was never really in doubt from the start. The Illini finished with 18 turnovers that led to 24 points from the Spartans and also allowed 50 points in the paint.
Despite the late rally in the fourth quarter — Illinois outscored Michigan State 28-13 in the final frame —, Illinois never had it going in its favor, as Michigan State led the entire game after the first basket. The Cornhuskers enter off three straight wins, and while the first meeting between these teams went their way, it could bode well for the Illini.
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That game was just under two months ago, and it was only the second time that the Illini had used the current starting lineup. Since that matchup, they’ve meshed well. The motivation of it potentially being the final home game for four of the projected starters should also give the Illini plenty to fight for as the Big Ten tournament draws near.
The first matchup also featured nine different Illini, and they dominated the bench scoring, which could bode well as freshman guard Gretchen Dolan has continued to earn more minutes throughout the season. Thus, the Illini have plenty to lean back on that could benefit them in their regular-season finale.
Tipoff between the Illini and Cornhuskers is set for 3 p.m. at the State Farm Center on Big Ten Network. With the game marking the end of the regular season, the Illini will then head to the Target Center in Minneapolis for the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday.
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