The Illinois Fighting Illini have lost three in row and now find themselves on the outside looking in to the NCAA tournament field. With losses against Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Iowa over the past week and a half, the Illini now need three straight wins and a win in the Big Ten tournament to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Illini have three very winnable games to end the regular season. The Illini host Northwestern and Nebraska and travel to Purdue to end the season. These games are huge. Right now, Illinois sits at the number 8 seed in the Big Ten tournament and plays the number 9 seed Minnesota. The winner of this game gets Wisconsin, a top five team in the nation. If the Illini can get these three wins, they can move into the 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament and get out of the dreaded Wisconsin side of the bracket.
The success of the Illini lies solely in the play of three players: Ray Rice, Kendrick Nunn, and Malcolm Hill. These three are the Illini’s leading scorers but never seem to all play well together. It’s either Rice and Hill, or Nunn and Rice, or Nunn and Hill. A John Groce-coached team will always defend but scoring points is the problem. Solid play by these three players and shut-down defense will lead the Illini to an NCAA tournament selection.