The Fighting Illini travel to Las Vegas to face off with the Runnin’ Rebels. Who will come away with a quality victory?
TV Schedule: Saturday, Dec. 9, 11:59 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Arena: MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
The Fighting Illini of Illinois travel to Las Vegas looking for their first quality win of the season. The Illini currently sit at 7-3 and face a very talented UNLV (7-2) team.
There are still a lot of questions surrounding Brad Underwood’s team. After starting the season at 6-0, the Illini dropped three straight games (at Wake Forest, at Northwestern, vs. Maryland) last week by a combined 12 points. Two of these losses came in overtime, both of which were to conference opponents.
After a poor showing Wednesday at home against Austin Peay where they committed 25 turnovers and barely eked out a 64-57 win, the Illini desperately need a quality road win to get their season back on track.
UNLV’s season has gone similarly. The Runnin’ Rebels began the season at 6-0 before losing two straight games in overtime (at Northern Iowa, vs. Arizona). The Rebels followed this with a 92-66 win over Oral Roberts this week.
As of Dec. 6, the Rebels are ranked No. 124 in the RPI rankings, while the Illini rank No. 183. So, it is evident that both teams could use a quality win to boost their resume.
The biggest question in this matchup is will Illinois be able to stop UNLV’s Brandon McCoy?
The 7-1 big-man is averaging 20.0 points per game and is tied for No. 7 in the nation with 11.2 rebounds per game. The Illini will likely struggle with this size, as starting big men Leron Black and Michael Finke come in at 6-7 and 6-10, respectively. Finke has some decent size, but he is more of a perimeter big, so it will be interesting to see how the Illini handle McCoy.
Black (14.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Finke (11.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg) have led the Illini in scoring and rebounding this year, but have struggled a little when going against size.
The Illini will also have to slow down UNLV’s offensive attack, which ranks No. 6 in the nation at 91.8 points per game so far this season. But, Illinois ranks 7th in turnovers forced per game (20.6), so it will be very interesting to see which team wins this battle.
Overall, I think this will be a very fast-paced, high-scoring game. Obviously, UNLV likes to put up a lot of points. The Rebels have five guys who average in double figures this season. The Illini also like to score quickly, as this is Underwood’s system. Although they have struggled a little bit to get integrated into this fast-scoring system, the Illini still rank No. 54 in scoring offense (83.0 ppg).
So, I anticipate this matchup to be a very exciting and close game. Both teams will be hungry to come out of the week with a quality win. If the Illini can shoot the ball well while also forcing turnovers, I think they can come out with the win. If not, it might be a long night for Underwood and company. But, I think the Illini will pull out the game on the road.
Prediction: Illinois 85, UNLV 80