Brandon Paul’s younger brother, Darius Paul, has announced that he will transfer from Western Michigan to Illinois. Paul (the second) will have to sit out for a year, but will then have three years of eligibility left.

Darius has about 4 inches and 20 pounds on his brother at 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds. The forward was named MAC Freshman of the Year and averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds last season. Though Brandon was at times inconsistent, when he was “on” he was a superstar. In fact, last night he was named Most Outstanding Player at the Illini Basketball Banquet.

The most recent Illini sibling to join the team was Crandall Head (brother of Luther Head, an integral part of that historical 2004-2005 team). While that didn’t work out so well – he transferred in the middle of his sophomore year – it’s pretty clear now that John Groce is very different from Bruce Weber.

The Illini might go through some growing pains next year with a ton of freshman and not a lot of upperclassman, 2014 may look to be a stellar year for the Orange and Blue.

If you need help keeping track of all the new guys, take a look at this scholarship chart from the Champaign Room, and just stick Darius Paul into 2014 as well:

We are still waiting to hear of Oregon State standout Ahmad Starks will make the switch to Illinois. His visit was this last week.

Welcome back to the Tournament Illini fans! Selection Sunday was very generous in handing us a 7-seed, but I will take it! On Friday around 3:40 pm Central, Illinois will play #10 Colorado in Austin, Texas.

This was an exciting year of college basketball, because so many unexpected things occurred. No one could hold on to the #1 seed, and Gonzaga finished with one of the best records (actually, THE best) record in college basketball. Just two teams beat those Bulldogs, and one of them plays in Champaign, Illinois.

Congrats to new head coach John Groce, who took virtually the same team with a losing overall record last year into this year’s field of 64 (68, whatever). There were some tough moments in the regular season, such as losing at home to Northwestern by a horrific margin, but the Illini righted themselves as the year wound down. They proved that when they’re hot, they can beat anyone. But, when they’re not, they stink. So that’s the problem: which team is going to show up on Friday?

Colorado has some scary beasts in Spencer Dinwiddie, a 6-6 guard who is averaging 15.6 points per game.  They’ve also go three guys taller than 6-10, so we’re not going to kill them necessarily in the height department. Another standout is Andre Roberson, a 6-7 forward averaging 10 points and 11 rebounds a game. The good news is, aside from Dinwiddie and Roberson, Colorado isn’t all that deep. I will admit I’ve only seen them play once this year, and that was when they were robbed of a win at Arizona thanks to some questionable calls by the refs. They ended up losing in OT. I have questioned how good AZ really is all season, so can’t say I’m THAT impressed that Colorado ended up beating them in the second meeting (and then losing in the PAC 12 Tourney).

Hey Brandon Paul, this is your LAST CHANCE; Photo by Cary Frye

The Buffaloes got smoked by Kansas, losing by nearly 40 points. They also lost to Oregon State at home and at Wyoming. They beat a ranked Baylor early in the season, but Baylor is now in the NIT. They also beat Oregon twice, and had that aforementioned win against Arizona. They haven’t faced a Big Ten opponent all season, and I’m hoping that it will be a rude awakening.

That being said, we haven’t faced a PAC 12 opponent, either. It’s going to take some finessing for the guys to understand that fouls are going to be called differently. I would be shocked if Nnanna Egwu DIDN’T foul out, and Sam McLaurin might suffer a similar fate. As long as the guys are productive during their minutes, I don’t care how much time they spend riding the bench.

So here’s what I’m hoping happens. Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson are set free by the absence of a Big Ten defense and make shot after shot. Tyler Griffey realizes it’s now or never and plops in a couple 3′s as well. Joseph Bertrand realizes that this is his team next year, and he’s got to put out a good showing before he’s the one in charge. Tracy Abrams finds his shot as well, and gets the ball in the right hands at the right time.

I believe what it really comes down to is Paul and Richardson understanding that this is it. They have only won one Tournament game in their entire careers at Illinois (UNLV in 2011). I’m not asking for a trip to the Final Four (well…), but let’s just get past one team. Illinois has played well on neutral sites, and started the season off as the Maui Invitational Champs. They’ve played a total of 15 games against nine teams that made this year’s NCAA Tournament, compiling a record of 6-9. Colorado, on the other hand, has played 9 games against 5 teams, with a record of 4-5.

Another X factor, of course, is Coach Groce. His patience turned Ohio into one of last year’s darlings, and let’s see if he can sprinkle that happiness over the Illini this year. I don’t like making picks when it comes to my guys, but I’m planning on watching them play again on Sunday.

The game will be on Friday, March 22 at 3:40 Central on TNT.

The Illini went ahead and solidified their entry ticket to the NCAA Tournament today with a win over Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Brandon Paul scored nearly half of the Illini’s points, including the game-winning shot that led to a 51-49 victory.

Thanks to a poorly scheduled meeting at work, I missed the entire first half of the game. I was able to secretly glance at my phone throughout, but it was hard to really know what was happening. I did joyously notice a 12-point lead for the Illini at one point, and the halftime score was a satisfying 25-16 in favor of the Illini.

Paul had 25 points, including a game winning shot; Photo by Cary Frye

Sadly, the streak of us being a first half team continued, and Minnesota got right back into it the game in the second. With about 12 minutes left in the game, Minnesota tied things up 32-32. The Gopher lead extended to as high as 6, but thankfully the Illini kept fighting. D.J. Richardson, who had been ineffective for most of the game, came through when it mattered with a 3-pointer that tied the game 49-49 with 47 seconds left.

Minnesota brought the ball down, and the tension rose. It must’ve been too tense for Austin Hollins, because he stepped out of bounds and turned the ball over with just 14 seconds left. With the game tied, I was ready for the game to go into overtime and head off to my second poorly timed work meeting of the day. I refreshed my Internet feed one last time to see that Paul made a bucket with just 1 second to spare.

With that, the Illini advance to the next round of the Conference Tournament. Paul, who said after the game that the team is getting back their “Maui Swag” scored nearly half of the team’s points with 25. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. No one else on the team made it to double figures. Overall, the Illini shot 32 percent, and 24 percent from behind the arc. They were outrebounded 36-24, but managed to turn the ball over just 5 times. Minny turned the ball over a whopping 17 times, which I would say was the difference maker. Clearly, Illinois didn’t play well, but they made things happen.

Tomorrow, the Illini will face Indiana, but the pressure is gone. I’m guessing the Hoosiers are going to want some serious revenge for what happened in Champaign earlier in the season, so I fully expect to lose. But, we’ve proven that we have the ability to beat Indiana before.

Either way, with today’s win I’m very confident that Selection Sunday will be a relaxing day that will result in a Tournament Invite. Indiana is still fighting for a No. 1 seed, while the work for Illinois is pretty much over. Sure, winning another game (or two or three) will allow them to shoot up to a higher seed, but really at this point I’m happy to just get there.

The game will be at 11AM tomorrow on ESPN.

Yes, this picture was from Saturday’s senior night, but it’s much better than thinking about yesterday’s loss; photo by Cary Frye

According to the “experts,” the Illini win over Nebraska over the weekend solidified their entry into this year’s Tournament. That may or may not be true, but losing the last two games of the season isn’t going to build my confidence, or the team’s. In a game that meant more to the Hawkeyes than it did to the Illini (which was evident in how the teams played), Iowa beat Illinois 63-55 at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson showed up for the game, but everyone else seemed to have gotten left behind in the storm. Paul had 18 points and 9 rebounds, while Richardson contributed 13 points, 2 steals and 4 rebounds. Nnanna Egwu got involved with 6 points and 7 rebounds, but everyone else might as well have stayed home. The defense was lacking, and long stretches of scoreless agony led to Iowa getting the win.

The Illini bench was just short of atrocious. Joseph Bertrand seemed to screw up every time he touched the ball, finishing with 3 points, 3 fouls and 4 turnovers; ouch. Myke Henry’s stat sheet didn’t look much better, with 1 turnover, 3 rebounds and no points.

Down by just 2 points with 4:45 to go (after being down by 10 or more for most of the second half) Illinois just couldn’t crawl back into the game. Before last night’s matchup, Iowa was on the wrong side of the bubble, and needed a solid win to get closer to the middle. However, even if they beat Nebraska in their last game of the year, the Hawkeyes still might be stuck at home as March continues.

Illinois, on the other hand, will head to Columbus on Sunday, in a game that I am planning to use. In Iowa City, Illinois had a chance, but in Columbus, not so much. A loss would leave them at 8 or 9 entering the B1G Tourney, which is bad for many reasons.First of all, I have tickets for the 6/7 games. Secondly, they’re going to play tougher competition in the first round, making it difficult to get to the second. Many assure me that these losses won’t affect their Tourney goals, especially since they have so many high-profile wins. I don’t believe this to be true, and even if they do get into the Tournament I don’t have a lot of confidence in how they will perform.

So that’s where we’re at. Iowa dashed my dreams, and Ohio State very well may smoosh them into the ground. A record of 21-12 isn’t going to look great to the eyes of the committee (we’re at 21-10 right now), regardless of how many top teams we beat along the way to get there. And, I’d like to feel some confidence that they remember what it’s like to win away from home.

I can’t believe that we are just one game away from the end of the regular season. Time always whizzes by so fast when it’s basketball season. I’m not ready for the season to end, and neither are the Illini. Sunday could be a very important game for many reasons. I can’t remember the last time Illinois won at Ohio State, but the record book informs me it was as recent as 2009. And, when the Buckeyes visited Champaign earlier in the year Illinois successfully made them look like fools. Although, Illinois also lost by 20 at Purdue, but clobbered the same team at home. So, there’s that.

Not unlike the Bruce Weber years, this Illini team is still inconsistent. Perhaps it’s the senior leadership, which isn’t going to change much next year (the only senior will be the aforementioned Bertrand), but perhaps the newbies will be able to make a huge difference. But that’s waaaay in the future. Let’s take it one step at a time, and beat Ohio State. Get to it, guys.

The game will be on Sunday at 11:30 AM on ESPN.

Paul had 14 points in his final game at the Assembly Hall yesterday; Photo by Cary Frye

Nothing is ever easy in Ilini-land folks, so you might as well get used to it. After looking like a solid team in the first half at Ann Arbor last weekend, Illinois let Nebraska’s Ray Gallegos and Dylan Talley go to town in the Assembly Hall. Talley and Gallegos both scored over 20 points, but Illinois still managed to pull away at the end, beating the Cornnhuskers 72-65.

It was an emotional night, as that’s how Senior Nights tend to be. Before the game, the crowd said goodbye and thank you to Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Tyler Griffey, as well as walk-on Kevin Berardini and transfer graduate student Sam McLaurin.

I was present for the time Paul and Richardson took the court against SIU Edwardsville on Nov. 3, 2009, and remember that game like it was yesterday. Paul had 22 points, which – correct me if I’m wrong – was the most points ever in a freshman debut. Richardson wasn’t far behind with 14 points of his own.

I’m not going to say that my memories of Richardson and Paul are rosy from start to finish, because they both had their ups and downs. Paul likes to turn the ball over, while Richardson went through long stretches of being trapped inside his head to the point where he couldn’t shoot a 3 to save his life. But all that is forgiven (even if it’s not forgotten) and I have to admit I’ll miss the little buggers. Griffey also showed signs of greatness throughout his career, but never truly popped. This season was probably his greatest yet, and that last-second shot vs. No. 1 Indiana will go down in Illini history; he has truly made his mark. We also won’t forget Paul’s 43 points vs. Ohio State last year.

Alright, so let’s get to the actual game. Talley and Gallegos just kept dropping 3′s (they combined for 8) and every time Illinois took the lead, Nebraska had the answer. It was hard to believe this was the same team we beat by more than 20 points in Lincoln. A last-second 3 by Tracy Abrams put the Illini up 35-32 at the half, but it was still too close for comfort.

Tied 57-57 with 5 minutes to go, the game was stressful to say the least. This was a must-win for Illinois, as a loss would’ve put their Tourney resume into question. Richardson made a 3, and Illinois was able to hold onto a small lead until the end. One of the 3′s by Gallegos came with 3 minutes to go, putting Nebraska within 3 points. Abrams was successful at the free throw line, and the Illini were finally able to pull away. It doesn’t matter how it happened, cause a win is a win.

Not only was it Senior Night at the Assembly Hall, but the AH was celebrating 50 years as the home of Illinois basketball. That meant timeouts were punctuated with memories galore from beating No. 1 Wake Forest to highlights of Frankie Williams to beating Magic Johnson’s No. 1 Michigan State team in 1979. John Groce dusted off the stylish orange blazer for the occasion.

The seniors did their job yesterday, and Paul led the team with 14 points. He also had a block, 5 assists and just 1 TO. Richardson contributed 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Griffey didn’t exactly go out with a bang, with just 3 points and 2 rebounds. Nevertheless, the senior presence was felt.

Illinois will head to Iowa on Tuesday, and then after that they’ll play in Columbus on Sunday. It’d be nice to win one (if not both) of those games, but even if Illinois loses both it seems very, very likely that they will still have their dance cards punched this year. I can’t guarantee what they’ll do once they get to the Tourney, but it looks like Griffey, Paul and Richardson will make an appearance one last time before moving on to the next phase of their lives.

Illinois plays Iowa at 6:06 pm on Tuesday.

18 more points will put Brandon Paul at 9th on the list of all-time Illinois scorers; Photo by Cary Frye

Let’s face it, everyone assumes that the Illini will lose tomorrow in Ann Arbor, so there is no pressure! With that being said, why not go in feeling relaxed and confident, and accidentally fool everyone and grab a really exciting win. Not only are the Illini supposed to lose, but it really isn’t going to affect their tournament resume in a negative way if they do what’s expected.

After the home win vs. Penn State on Thursday – despite how ugly it was- the Illini are right on track to earn an invite to the Big Dance next month. Thanks to a 5-game conference win streak that started with an upset over Indiana and included wins at Minnesota, vs. Purdue, at Northwestern and vs. Penn State, they’re sitting pretty at .500 in the conference right now and wiggled their way into the sole No. 6 spot in the conference. A loss on the road to a 7th ranked Michigan (who by the way is undefeated at Crisler Center) is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

With just four games left in the season, Illinois needs to protect the home court against Nebraska next weekend, and maybe try to grab a win at Iowa on March 5. If that happens, then losses at Michigan and at Ohio State to end the season on March 10 won’t matter. Although, a win at Michigan would give Illinois wins over 5 top 15 teams, which is unmatched by any other team but Indiana. At that point our stock would soar and we could be very pleasantly seeded come the end of March.

Thursday’s PSU Win

So let’s get back to that 64-59 win over Penn State on Thursday. D.J. Richardson, who is averaging 17.3 ppg over the last nine games, had a team-high 18 points. Brandon Paul was right behind him with 16, and also had two steals, three rebounds and two assists. He also become the 10th Illini to score over 1,500 points, and he can move into the 9th place on the points list with 18 more. Everyone else was rather quiet, which is why the game was closer than it should have been.

Poor, lonely Penn State has zero wins in the conference, and has been struggling all season. Tim Frazier, a pre-season All Big Ten selection, suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the year. They’ve got some talent with D.J. Newbill and Jermaine Marshall (who had a game-high 20 points), but 15 turnovers and sending the Illini to the charity stripe 36 times killed them. Just imagine what the score would’ve been had the FT percentage been higher than the dismal 63%.

The game dragged on for way too long, as Penn State really didn’t understand when it was time to throw in the towel. That’s nice that they didn’t want to give up, but they were down six points with 22 seconds to go, and fouled the Illini three more times. Granted they finally made some 3′s and got within 3 points with 4 seconds to go, but at that point was yet another foul really necessary? Also, was it me or does PSU coach Patrick Chambers really likes to yell at his guys – like a lot?

Anyway, a win’s a win and I’m not upset with the guys at all. The matchup was awkward, and PSU had a strong defense. I feel sort of bad for them with 0 wins, but of course I didn’t want the first one to come on our court!

So tomorrow, Illinois will head to Ann Arbor with the knowledge that a win is always nice, but certainly not a requirement for any reason. So I want to see a loose, energetic team with nothing to lose. And, I just don’t want to be embarrassed. If we go home empty handed, shrug, no biggie, on to the Cornhuskers next week.

D.J. Richardson does it again!; Photo by Cary Frye

On January 17th, the Northwestern Wildcats came into the Assembly Hall and made the Illini basketball team look stupid. Last night, we went ahead and returned the favor, crushing Northwestern 62-41 in Evanston.

While I couldn’t be happier about this win, I do have to wonder why the heck we couldn’t beat this team a month ago. Northwestern was playing without Jared Swopshire, but he couldn’t have been that vaulable. The difference lies in confidence, and great defense.

Northwestern scored just 15 points in the first half, and failed to score in the second until about 6 and a half minutes in. During that time, the Wildcats were stalled at 15 and Illinois went on a 26-0 run. In case you can’t count, that is almost double NU’s total.

The lead crept up to 30 points for Illinois, which meant that it was going to be nearly impossible for Northwestern to come back. Despite the cramped benches and soaring heat in Welsh-Ryan Arena, I was happy to stay until the very end of the game and enjoy watching Mike LaTulip, Mike Shaw, Devin Langford and Keven Berardini get some minutes. Ibby Djimde even managed to score his first points of the season in that last stretch.

Usually, this game is split rather evenly among Illini fans vs. NU fans, but thanks to the Orange Krush the scale tipped over to the orange side last night. Many NU “fans” left early, giving us a lot more leg room.

D.J. Richardson led all scorers with 18 points, and also had 8 rebounds. Tracy Abrams, who didn’t start the game but got the nod in the second, scored 13 points and had 4 assists and 3 rebounds. Brandon Paul had another quiet offensive game with just 8 points, but he contributed a very necessary 6 rebounds and 5 assists, as well as a steal and a block.

I noticed that Northwestern started two freshman, a soph and one senior. That senior, Reggie Hearn, was the only Wildcat in double digits with 11 last night. On the whole, NU shot 25% compared to Illinois shooting 43%. NU also had 14 turnovers, and they were outrebounded 35-22.

It’s unfortunate that there was an ugly losing streak in January, but maybe that’s just not our month. Usually what is more important is how your teams plays down the final stretch, and so far so good for the Illini. Four wins in a row – two on the road and two against ranked teams – is certainly an upswing. If we can continue down this path, then we’ll have no trouble earning a bid in less than a month (!). They’ve racked up 20 wins, and a 6-7 record in what may be the toughest conference out there isn’t too shabby.

Up next, the Illini will welcome a very sad Penn State team to the Assembly Hall on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:15. The Nittany Lions still don’t have any conference wins, and I don’t expect that to change on Thursday. Now that we’ve tasted the sweet nectar of a beat down, let’s keep ‘em coming.

The game will be aired on BTN.

Why, hello Mr. Reigning Co-Big Ten Player f the Week!; photo by Cary Frye

For the first time this season, the Illini basketball team has two conference wins in a row. With this momentum, I wouldn’t necessarily say tonight’s game at home vs. Purdue is a must-win, but it is definitely a you-better-win type of situation.

Last week, Illinois beat No. 1 Indiana at home (and they’re still #1 btw), and also got a great win on the road at No. 18 Minnesota (sadly no longer ranked). Welcoming Purdue to the Assembly Hall should be a cinch.

The Boilermakers have a slightly better conference record at 5-6, although their best wins probably came at home over Iowa and also vs. Illinois in West Lafatyette. Therefore, there is really no reason at all (the stupid home NU loss aside), that Illinois shouldn’t come away with a W.

This is the LAST chance for the seniors to finally beat Purdue, who has an astounding 8-game winning streak over Illinois. Tyler Griffey, Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson failed to beat Missouri in their careers, but they got a win at the United Center, and beating Purdue is the last task on the checklist (aside from loftier goals like making it to the Elite 8 or Final Four, of course).

The last two games should give Illinois a ton of confidence, and even Griffey has his mojo back after draining 3′s and getting that game-winning shot over Indiana. Let’s also not forget the reigning Big Ten Co-Player of the Week Richardson has been playing great as well. If we could just get Paul back into the mix, then we could really do some damage.

So while a loss wouldn’t be the end of the world, it would be annoying and ridiculous (see again NU loss). When the Illini play their best, they are the better team. And, they’re at home. Losing just isn’t an option tonight for me guys – but no pressure!

We’re in good shape, and as long as the home wins happen, it’s very likely that Illinois will get an NCAA bid. They’ve won 17 games already, which is more than all of last season. They’ve also got five victories against the RPI Top 25. That is tied with Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin for the second-highest total nationally. Only Kansas (6) has more RPI Top 25 wins.

The game will be tonight at 8pm on the Big Ten Network.