On what this Illinois team does well, how different it is compared to the one Tennessee faced last season in Knoxville
“You know what? Different. Very much different. Stylistically, some things are similar. Last year, they were older. Obviously a lot of guys that have played a lot of college basketball games. You had somebody like Terrence Shannon, who was just a bull in a China shop driving a basketball. He was one of the toughest guys in the country to guard year after year. Obviously, he’s an All American. So replacing him, obviously, is different. They were extremely big across the board in their lineup. But that’s something that obviously is the same with this team. They have the kid, Kasparas (Jakucionis). The other kid, Tomi (Tomisalv Ivisic), or Tommy, I should say, No.13, the big fella. They lean on those two guys. They shoot the ball, I think, better than they did last year. They shot the ball well last year, but they shoot it better. They have some guys that that can really fill it up from the outside. They still play fast. But KJ (Kasparas Jakucionis), the kid, he plays with a little bit better pace. He plays in a lot of drags. Really creative off the bounce, extremely skilled, but shoots the ball really, really well, especially off the bounce. I think, I’ve been saying it all week, He’s like the closest thing college basketball has ever seen to Luka Doncic. And that’s not a slight to Luka at all. And that’s not to go crazy on the on the young fella, but he’s really good. He’s one of the better freshmen in the country. So it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
Team Statistics (via KenPom)
Tennessee:
Illinois:
Tennessee:
Points: Chaz Lanier — 19.1 PPG, 48 FG%, 48.6 3PT%
Rebounds: Igor Milicic — 7.3 RPG, 5.6 DRPG, 1.8 ORPG
Assists: Zakai Zeigler — 8 APG, 3.3 TOPG, 33.4 MPG
Illinois:
Points: Kasparas Jakucionis — 15.4 PPG, 49.4 FG%, 44.2 3PT%
Rebounds: Tomislav Ivisic — 9.4 RPG, 7.6 DRPG, 1.9 ORPG
Assists: Kasparas Jakucionis — 6 APG, 3.7 TOPG, 31.8 MPG
Last Five Games
Tennessee:
- 75-62 win against Miami (New York City)
- 96-70 win versus Syracuse
- 78-35 win versus UT Martin
- 77-62 win against Baylor (Bahamas)
- 64-42 win against Virginia (Bahamas)
Illinois:
- 86-80 win versus Wisconsin
- 70-66 (OT) loss at Northwestern
- 90-77 win against Arkansas (Kansas City)
- 92-34 win versus Little Rock
- 87-40 win versus Maryland Eastern Shore
Prediction:
This one is a classic early season matchup that doesn’t make much sense to the outside. Tennessee is the top-ranked team in the country in the AP Poll. They have Illinois unranked. But in reality, the Fighting Illini are a top 20 game and Tennessee is going on the road to play in a tough environment. These games are extremely hard to win and that’s why the Vols are just slight favorites in this one.
These are two really good rebounding teams and that’s one I’m curious to see for this game. Tennessee’s offensive rebounding has been one of its biggest strengths. Having success there on the road against a stout rebounding team would bode really well for the Vols’ sustaining their early season offensive success.
Both teams rank in the top 10 in defensive field goal percentage so everything is going to be tough to get in this one. I’ve gone back-and-forth on my pick because this is a classic game for the No. 1 team in the country to lose. But Tennessee hasn’t given me any reason to doubt them yet so I’ll keep believing.
Tennessee 73, Illinois 72
