OMAHA, Neb. — What do you want first, Illinois basketball fans, the good news or the better news?
The NCAA Tournament is upon us, with the Illini, seeded third in the East region, set to play 14th-seeded Morehead State in a first-round game Thursday at the CHI Health Center arena (2:10 p.m., TruTV). Nothing beats good old March Madness.
Not only that, but the Illini (26-8) actually are excited to be here. One might think that would be obvious — an automatic fact — but last year’s Illini team, which lost 73-63 in the first round against Arkansas, didn’t always project the best vibes. A day before getting after it anew, free-speaking senior forward Coleman Hawkins expressed a brighter outlook.
“I think the difference between this year and last year is we’ve got guys that are grateful to be here and guys that really want to be here, and we’re only focused on winning,” he said.
“Last year was kind of embarrassing for me. First-round exit. It was definitely a game I felt was winnable for us, but we just didn’t compete hard. It felt like some of the guys gave up. But I feel we have a really good team this year that’s ready to face any challenge, take on any challenge. We’re ready to compete.”
The Illini wilted against Arkansas, allowing a 14-2 second-half run and bowing out quietly to extend a streak of not getting past the first weekend of the tournament that goes back to 2005. It looked vastly worse than what we saw the Illini do last weekend in Minneapolis, when they erased double-digit deficits — in spectacular fashion — in three straight games to win the Big Ten tournament.
Illinois has been to the Big Dance four consecutive years under coach Brad Underwood — it would be five if not for the COVID-19 cancellation in 2020 — and the burning question now is whether or not this is their best opportunity in that time to make a run to remember.
#Illini practice ahead of tomorrow’s first-round game against Morehead State pic.twitter.com/MF69fuRGU1
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) March 20, 2024
The 2021 team, powered by All-Americans Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, was a No. 1 seed, but it lost in the second round to Loyola. The team after that revolved around dominant 7-footer Cockburn, who was easily the best Illini player on the floor but whose massive presence under the basket led to a deliberate, sometimes plodding approach at the offensive end. Last year’s team had more athletes and, in theory, a lot more positional versatility, but it amounted to less than the sum of its parts.
These Illini are a smoke show offensively, averaging a Big Ten-best 84.4 points per game — a program high since the Flyin’ Illini put up 86.4 in 1988-89 — and seemingly getting more dangerous all the time. The Illini have topped 85 points 19 times in all, going 17-2 in those games, and in 13 of their last 18 outings. Terrence Shannon Jr. alone erupted for 102 points over the last three games.
UConn entered the 2023 tournament as a No. 4 seed but was so explosive as it romped to the championship, there was zero question in the end that the best team had won it. Can Illinois hit the floor flying and show tantalizing potential approaching what the Huskies displayed? It might seem like a reach, but those second halves in Minneapolis were something else.
“We’re getting ready to find out,” Underwood said.
The fan base is agonizing for it. Illinois is one of only five schools nationally with five consecutive seasons of at least 20 wins — but nothing short of a deep tournament run is going to make the orange-bloods celebrate. No one knows better than they do that Illinois is still seeking its first national title. With 42 all-time wins in the tournament, the Illini trail only Purdue (44), Gonzaga (44) and Oklahoma (43) among schools that have never won all the marbles.
Hawkins knows what it’s like to feel the ire of fans — whether it has been directed at the team or specifically at him.
“I’ve dealt with the ups and downs of being on the good side and bad side of fans,” he said, “but I feel like if any fan has anything negative to say about us, I mean, can they really call themselves a fan? I feel like they’re more a spectator of Illinois basketball. . . . The biggest thing is not to let either positive or negative things go to your head because you might think too highly of yourself — and then as soon as you have a bad game, they turn on you.”
They just want some more good news — and a big winner — and maybe it’s time. Either way, it’s on now.
