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Illinois vs Chattanooga: 2022 NCAA Tournament game preview

By Zayd Hussein

Nov 9, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Alfonso Plummer (11) celebrates his team’s 71-47 win over Jackson State at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 9, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Alfonso Plummer (11) celebrates his team’s 71-47 win over Jackson State at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Can the #4 seed Illinois Fighting Illini make up for last year’s failure in March and get past the #13 seed Chattanooga Mocs?

The Illinois Fighting Illini come into the round of 64 after a disappointing loss in the Big 10 Tournament. They draw a red hot Chattanooga Mocs team, who are riding a 5-game winning streak coming into the NCAA tournament.

The Mocs are led by star guards Malachi Smith and David Jean-Baptiste. Smith is coming into the tournament averaging just over 20 points per game, while Jean-Baptiste is scoring in double figures as well.

Chattanooga’s biggest key in this game is containing Kofi Cockburn of Illinois. Cockburn is a Wooden Award Finalist, Illinois will go as far as he takes them. The Mocs will look to contain him with Kansas transfer Silvio De Sousa. De Sousa has given the Mocs huge minutes over the course of the year, but he hasn’t seen anyone near the skill of big man Kofi Cockburn. This is where I believe Chattanooga will struggle.

Illinois has a variety of 3-point shooters, if the Mocs are forced to double Cockburn these shooters may see plenty of open looks. With the Illini you can pick your poison, Trent Frazier 5th year senior for Illinois can let it fly from deep and has plenty of big-game experience. Alfonso Plummer has been a huge addition to the Illini he has a quick trigger, and he has the ability to get hot in a hurry.

If the Illini are hitting their shots this game can get ugly quick. While Chattanooga is coming into this tournament on a streak, they haven’t played anyone near the level of Illinois. From a betting perspective, this game opened up at Illinois -7.5  and is now sitting at Illinois -8.5.

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Overall the Illini possesses too many problems for the Mocs to simply defend and overcome. Andre Curbelo, Kofi Cockburn, Trent Frazier, Alfonso Plummer, Coleman Hawkins, all these players have experience playing in March and in big games. I think they’ll ultimately be too much for the Chattanooga Mocs and look for Illinois to win by 10+ tonight.

Prediction: Illinois -8.5

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