Illinois basketball will head to New York City on Friday for a marquee non-conference showdown against the UConn Huskies inside Madison Square Garden. The Illini have appeared 15 times at “The World’s
Most Famous Arena,” holding a 6–9 record.
Brad Underwood has made MSG a regular stop on Illinois’ schedule, bringing the Illini to The Garden now for four straight seasons and expressing his desire to continue building this tradition. Underwood is 3–2 at MSG during his tenure, earning wins over No. 13 Maryland, No. 2 Texas, and No. 11 Florida Atlantic and losses to Iowa and Duke. The Duke loss came last season, when Illinois was routed by 43 points.
If Illinois wants to take down UConn on Friday, they’ll need a much sharper performance than the one they delivered against Duke. They’ll also be walking into a heavily pro-UConn crowd, as Huskies fans proudly refer to Madison Square Garden as “Storrs South.”
These two teams last met in the 2024 Elite Eight, where UConn’s infamous 30–0 run powered them to a 77–52 win on their way to one of the most dominant championship runs in college basketball history. This time around, Illinois should match up far better.
UConn enters with just one loss on the season to Arizona and will likely be a small favorite. Illinois is finally fully healthy and will look to secure their second ranked win of the season on Black Friday.
