It wasn’t smooth all the way, but the Illini got the job done on Wednesday night against Wisconsin.
The 82-70 win over the Badgers sets up an electric rematch with Michigan State on Thursday. The Spartans bested the Illini back in January, despite a late Illinois comeback; the Spartans went on to win 81-75.
What went right
The charity stripe and rebounds were the only reasons the Illini weren’t first-round exits in the Big Ten Tournament.
Despite an ice-cold shooting night from behind the third point line, the Illini
made up for it in other ways.
Lety Vasconcelos provided an excellent 18 minutes on the bench, grabbing six boards. The red-shirt sophomore has played sparingly this year, averaging only a handful of minutes per game. However, that spark was more than needed from the bench today.
It seems her teammates also recognized that spark too, as Vasconcelos was the player selected to stick the Illinois logo onto the bracket after the game.
Besides Vasconcelos, Destiny Jackson absolutely balled out against the Badgers.
The star-freshman went to the line 13 times, the first of which came just four minutes into the game. Jackson took the ball from almost halfcourt and completely flew by the Wisconsin defender, hitting a contested layup, and then finishing the three-point play at the line.
The Illini as a team went to the line 29 times, hitting 24 of those free throws.
On a night when you shoot 2-of-19 from deep, those free throws were crucial in moving on to the next round.
The rematch
The Illini are right on the bubble of the NCAA tournament. With some good resume wins, including a top-ten victory at Maryland, regardless of the outcome against the Spartans, the Ilini should get in. However, with a loss, the team risks getting bumped out of the tournament or to the play-in seed line, a game Shauna Green’s team played in and lost just three years ago.
A win tomorrow will certainly lock the Illini in for their third appearance in the last four years, especially with some unfinished business; the orange and blue are going to come out hot.
In East Lansing back in January, the Illini lost a game they most definitely want back. With five minutes remaining, it looked bleak for Illinois, down ten points, to a team that had dominated them all day long. Despite that deficit, the Illini came roaring back, giving themselves a chance to win. Down just two points with 11 seconds remaining, the Illini just couldn’t claw their way completely back, as the Spartans would finally close the game.
On Thursday, the Illini will have to start early. It’s been a problem all season long, with the Illini having to play from behind in numerous games. The orange and blue didn’t play their best game against Wisconsin on Wednesday night, but getting off to a good start allowed them to make some mistakes through the remainder of the game.
Regardless of their last matchup, a lot of eyes will be on Illinois and Michigan State on Thursday, where both teams will have a chance to make it to the quarterfinals.
Illinois will tip off against Michigan State on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. CT.
