CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The marathon of the Big Ten regular season is over. For No. 11 Illinois, the reward is a clean slate and a chance to carry momentum into March.
Following a gutsy road win over Maryland, head coach Brad Underwood is urging his team to embrace the abruptness of the postseason.
The Illini enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 4 seed after tallying 24 regular-season victories, the program’s most in 20 years. The path to a Big Ten title likely starts with a revenge game.
Illinois is likely
to matchup against Wisconsin on Friday, the same team that handed the Illini an overtime loss in Champaign while guards Kylan Boswell and Andrej Stojakovic remained sidelined.
Their absences were felt in that matchup, and Wisconsin guards John Blackwell and Nick Boyd took advantage of it.
The Illini haven’t forgotten the 13 turnovers or the fatigue of that stretch, but they enter the United Center now healthy and loose.
“Now’s the time to cut it loose,” Underwood said. “Now’s the time to go have fun… We want to be the toughest, hardest playing team out there every night. If we do that, we give ourselves a chance.”
With Underwood and Andrej Stojakovic battling the flu post-Maryland and Keaton Wagler managing back spasms, Underwood noted that a few days off have been “really good” for recovery.
For freshmen like David Mirkovic, the postseason is a new challenge, but one he feels prepared for.
While the system has simplified his transition to college ball, Mirkovic is leaning on veterans like Ty Rodgers, a big factor for the 2024 Big Ten title team, to understand the mental grind of the postseason.
“We had a talk after the practice with Ty Rodgers,” Mirkovic said. “Coach just asked him how the 2024 run was and he said every day was like the best day ever.”
The focus has now shifted entirely to the win or go home reality of March.
“I think every game you just got to take that mentality of one-and-oh,” Boswell said.
