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Illinois vs. Indiana
2/15/09
Although do you rarely hear about any Conference besides the Big East or the ACC these days, the Big Ten has some pretty good teams that could sneak on the elite teams in college basketball this season.
The Michigan State Spartans have been the best team in the Big Ten Conference this season only losing two Games in Conference play and just Four overall, but the Illinois Fighting Illini are not a be to be taken for granted as they sit just behind the Spartans in the Big 10 Conference standings.
The Illini have struggled a bit through out the season with some pretty forgettable losses to Wisconsin and especially to Minnesota where Illinois only put up a pathetic 36 points in a losing effort. Even with those losses there have to moments of promise for the Illini this season which could in a Cinderella story come Tournament time in March.
The Indiana Hoosiers on the other hand have done nothing, but struggle all season long. Not only did the go through the coaching scandal, which set them back considerably, but they also lost Eric Gordon to the NBA.
With both of those major blows to the Hoosiers mens basketball program Indiana has just not been able to get on track which has resulted in a completely forgettable season as they sit in last place in the Big Ten Conference on winning one Game out of ten in Conference play this season.
Coming into this match up the Illini will be looking to gain more ground as they try and reach the Spartans in the Big Ten standings. With this win the Illini will have so much needed momentum as they get closer and closer to their rematch with the Big Ten leading Spartans on March 1st.
As for the Hoosiers they will just be looking to keep up with a much better Illini team. Unless Indiana can all of the sudden start playing some great basketball, I dont see anyway they can pull off the unlikely upset and the Fighting Illini.
A key for the Illini will be the three top scorers getting going early and jumping out to an insurmountable lead against Indiana.
If Illinois Fighting Illini leading scorers Mike Davis, Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale can get things going like they have all season the Indiana Hoosiers could be in for one long night.
The only real threat on the Hoosiers that could possibly cause problems for the Illini is Indiana guard Devan Dumes who is leading the team in scoring at 13.8 points a Game and forward Tom Pritchard who is averaging 10.4 and 6.7 boards a Game.
Although these two may cause some match up problems, the Illini will come out on top by a large margin in this one.
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