Illinois Fighting Illini
Perhaps no team in NCAA basketball felt as much heartbreak as the Illinois Fighting Illini, falling painstakingly close to the top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers after a coast-to-coast buzzer-beating layup by Jordan Gainey in Champaign.
JORDAN GAINEY GAME WINNER ARE YOU KIDDING ME pic.twitter.com/ckAxZNlcaf
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) December 15, 2024
Freshman standout Kasparas Jakucionis led the Illini with 22 points but was held to 5-15 from the field thanks to terrific defense from Jahmai Mashack. Illinois shot under 30% from the field and 17.4% from behind the arc.
Buy or sell Illinois?
Despite its deflating shoot percentages on Saturday, the Illini put themselves squarely in position to knock off college basketball’s top-ranked team, even taking the lead twice after the under-four media timeout. Looking at the bigger picture here, Illinois ranks inside the top 15 in KenPom defensive efficiency -- a vast improvement off of last year’s high-octane, veteran-laden group -- and ranks inside the top 16 in many college basketball metrics: NET (13), KenPom (16), Bart Torvik (11).
Going toe-to-toe with college basketball’s top team is something to hang your hat on. Sure, the loss agonizingly stings but this young group has continuously shown its upside and improvement throughout the past six weeks.
On Big Ten media day, Brad Underwood stubbornly joked a 7th-grade middle school team could hang 100 on them. Now its defense has been a key pillar to this group’s success. This team will only get better as the 2024-2025 goes on. The talent is through the roof. Buy the upside for Illinois with the official start of Big Ten play rapidly approaching.