The Illinois Fighting Illini will attempt to hand the Texas Longhorns their first defeat of the season Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. The game is part of the Jimmy V Classic and is scheduled for a 7:00 PM EST tip off with the Longhorns favored by 4.5 points in the contest with the total set at 140.5 points.
The Illini are fresh off of their second loss of the season after falling to the Maryland Terrapins last Friday in College Park, MD. Terrence Shannon led Brad Underwood’s team with 17 points in the game but was unable to connect from deep going just 0-5 from distance. Prized recruit Skyy Clark struggled for the second consecutive game scoring just six points to go along with a negative assist to turnover ratio in over thirty minutes played.
Texas enters the game with a perfect record at 6-0 on the season. The Longhorns were able to survive at home against a top-ten Creighton team on Friday by a final tally of 72-67. The Longhorns were led by star guards Tyrese Hunter and Marcus Carr, who combined for 34 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists while turning the ball over just once between the two of them in 68 minutes played.
Illinois Fighting for Respect
Brad Underwood’s team wasn’t exactly a ballyhooed bunch entering the season, but they burst onto the scene by defeating a top-ten UCLA squad in their fourth game of the season. Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon has been terrific for the Illini and seems to be flourishing in Underwoods uptempo style.
Illinois will likely not attain their full potential until highly touted freshman Skyy Clark shows some consistency. Clark has struggled with turnovers early in the season despite a relatively low usage rate of 16.2%. His 35.7% success rate on three-point attempts is a nice number, but he has struggled lately, connecting on just one of his last ten attempts.
The Illini are a middling 4-3-1 against the spread on the season but have an impressive margin of victory of 20.4 points per game.
Is Texas ready to lock horns with another top-25 team?
The Longhorns boast one of the best margin of victory numbers in the nation at 25.3 points and are outperforming the spread by more than 12 points per game. Those numbers are impressive, considering they have played against Gonzaga and Creighton. Of course, Texas has not played another team that currently ranks within the top 190 in Kenpom this season. This game will be the first time the Horns have played a formidable opponent away from home this season as well as the first time they have played outside the state of Texas.
This season’s Texas team appears to have more chemistry than last season’s uber-talented roster. Iowa State transfer Tyrese Hunter has acclimated seamlessly into the lineup along with freshman Dillon Mitchell. Forward Dylan Disu has also recovered from a disastrous junior season in Austin to lead the team in blocked shots while being second on the team in field goal percentage at 67.6%.
Illinois vs. Texas Pick
Given the chemistry and experience of the Texas backcourt and the struggles of Clark, it seems likely that Texas will land their first victory away from home.
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