"their FIRST national championship."
STATE FARM CENTER– No. 11 Texas Tech traveled up to Champaign IL last night to take on No. 14 Illinois in an early season thriller. In an early ranked matchup between the two was everything we expected. Two powerhouse programs looking to gain the early year momentum, in winning their first ranked match.
The Fightin’ Illini narrowly took this game with a first half surge, and just barely had enough in the tank to fend off the Red Raiders who were inching back the entire second half. The Illini won this game 81-77.
Illinois’s leading scorers were Kylan Boswell with 22 points in 38 minutes and Andrej Stojakovic with 23 points in 26 minutes. Keaton Wagner led with 7 rebounds for the Illini. Two stellar offensive performances powered No. 14 Illinois to victory in a game where they were not the favorites!
Texas Tech’s leading scorers were JT Toppin with 35 points in 39 minutes and LeJuan Watts with 21 points in 30 minutes. Toppin and Watts looked to will the Red Raiders to victory with an incredible second-half surge but they fell just short, losing by 4 points. Toppin also led the team with rebounds, coming in at 11.
The Illini have an incredibly tough season this year. It started with Tuesday night’s game versus the Red Raiders. It only gets tougher, as in the next month they are tasked with defeating No. 8 Alabama, No. 3 Dan Hurley and Uconn, No. 20 Tennessee, and a couple Big10 matchups in Ohio State and Nebraska. This gauntlet is just for the next month! Taking a broader look at the season, as it stands now, they will face five more ranked programs before the illustrious March Madness tournament.
As tough as it may seem, Coach Brad Underwood and Illinois have been in the mix every year with roughly the same schedule strength. Last year they were slated the No. 6 seed in the tournament, and went out in a thriller to No. 3 Kentucky. This season things may be different though, there’s a lot of talk that Boswell and his will to land Stojakovic this offseason may give the Illini that jolt they need to get over the edge and capture their FIRST national championship. At the very least, this Illinois team is powerful enough to land themselves in the Final Four for the first time in twenty years.
As for the Red Raiders, they have a relatively easy schedule for the next month or so only facing off against one ranked team (No. 21 Arkansas Dec 13). They will look to continue to build off of this loss, as they will have time to fix mistakes before facing off against the nation’s best. Their ladder half of the year is where the Red Raiders may find themselves trying to dig themselves out of a hole. To end the year they face off against No. 7 BYU, and before that they will have had to face off against No. 1 Houston… TWICE! It won’t be easy for Texas Tech, but they have shown maturity and that they can be a force to reckon with, when they are playing together as one.
NEXT UP
Texas Tech
Date: Friday, November 14, 8:00pm EST
Location: United Supermarkets Arena
Versus: Milwaukee Panthers
No. 14 Illinois
Date: Friday, November 14, 9:00pm EST
Location: State Farm Center
Versus: Colgate Raiders
Key Stat
JT Toppin scored 35 points for Texas Tech in the losing effort.
Final Score
Illinois 81, Texas Tech 77
