Illini Upset: Golden Gophers

The Fighting Illini who have never been ranked this whole season have pulled off a big upset over the Indiana Hoosiers. Yesterday they won 57-54 over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Yet again the Illini were lead to victory by their guards Brandon Paul and D.J Richardson. They also had a great amount of help from forward Tyler Griffey. Griffey lead his team in scoring with 16 points. Richardson would be the only other players in double figures with Paul having 10 and Richardson having 13. It was obviously a low scoring game. The other team, the Golden Gophers had Trevor Mbawke and Austin Hollins leading them. Hollins had 16 points and 4 steals. Also, Mbawke would be the only other player with 10 or more points, but Elliot Eliason had 10 rebounds for the Gophers. Plus, if it weren't Tracy Abrams making a three pointer with 20 seconds left the Illini would have had a 1 point lead. That could have given the Gophers more will to play 'till the end.

Do you think that the Fighting Illini will be ranked find out on "Best Teams Reviled" (a post by Ameen I.).

By David B.

Number One Knocked off Again?

The Illinois Fighting Illini had the odds completely against them as they had a record of 15-8 compared to the (1) Indiana Hoosiers with a 20-2 record. The Illini were lead by Brandon Paul and D.J Richardson. Both of these players had over 20 points and multiple steals. Paul had 21 points and Richardson had 23 points. Also, Tyler Griffey played very well with 14 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. For the Hoosiers Cody Zeller was doing his thing with 14 points and 9 boards. Also Jordan Hulls was a great player this game 3-4 on three pointers and 11 points.


The game was thought to be over by many when the second half started the Illini were down 41-29 and as time passed it wouldn't get much better. Then fans started saying game over for the final time when the Indiana Hoosiers took a lead of 70-61 and there was only 3:36 seconds on the clock. Then the Hoosiers played carelessly and they gave up 2 turnovers, 2 steals, and block in the final minutes of the game. Also the Hoosiers only put up 2 points in the last 3:36, while the Illini had 13 points. The last one was a lay-up in the paint off an in-bounds pass for the Illini and it was from Brandon Paul to Tyler Griffey. The paint was wide open on this shot though, because as Griffey came off the screen he went to the paint and his man didn't follow.

By David B.