Illinois
Like it or not, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. is back on the court and already dominating again
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25240674/1950583257.jpg "Like it or not, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. is back on the court and already dominating again")
Social media is teeming with (ahem) legal experts who won’t wait for Terrence Shannon Jr.’s criminal case to play out before rendering their verdicts about whether Illinois’ star guard has any business being back on the basketball court.
Some were outraged by his presence in an 86-63 victory Sunday against Rutgers in Champaign. Shannon, 23, is facing a rape charge in Kansas and was suspended by Illinois for six games until a U.S. District Court judge ruled Friday that the school had violated his civil rights and granted a preliminary injunction that allowed for his immediate reinstatement.
Many others — Illini fans, naturally — have piled in to defend Shannon’s due process. Some of these folks even are going so far as to proclaim Shannon’s innocence, despite the tiny fact they have utterly no idea what’s true or isn’t about the case.
Either way, a preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 23. And — for the time being, at least — Shannon, one of the best players in the country, is back at it.
‘‘I am grateful for the opportunity to rejoin my teammates and get back to work,’’ Shannon tweeted Friday.
Against the Scarlet Knights, the 6-6 Chicago native came out flying, reminding all those watching of why the No. 14 Illini (14-4) are strong enough, when whole, to give favorite Purdue a run for the Big Ten championship money.
The first two times Shannon touched the ball after coming off the bench a little more than two minutes into the game he raced up the open floor on breaks and fed teammate Coleman Hawkins for dunks. Shannon made his first bucket on a one-on-two break. One possession after that, the lefty drove and scored over — count ’em — three defenders. Later, he converted a three-point play off the break and scored his final two points on an emphatic dunk to end with 16 points in 28 minutes.
Shannon, who shot 10 free throws, has the giddy-up that few Illini players of recent vintage — Dee Brown, Ayo Dosunmu — have had. Without him, the Illini are a tough out in the Big Ten. With him, they have Final Four potential.
‘‘It’s amazing,’’ said guard Justin Harmon, who led the Illini with 18 points. ‘‘It just makes the whole team feel whole again because we’ve got our best player back.’’
For now, they do. For how long, we’ll see. As to whether he should be out there, well, it’s certainly more complicated than the pretend experts say. . . .
Who’s going to win the men’s national championship? Anybody. Or maybe everybody.
With No. 10 Memphis losing Sunday at Tulane, there now have been 22 losses by top-10 teams on the road against unranked opponents this season. According to ESPN, that’s the most through January in the Associated Press poll era, which dates to the late 1940s. That should tell you how up for grabs this nutty season is. . . .
Wake up and smell the coffee Loyola is brewing. After winning Saturday at Fordham, the Ramblers are 13-6 overall and 5-1 in the Atlantic 10. It’s a gigantic improvement from a season ago — their first in the A-10 — when they started 0-6 in league play on the way to finishing alone in 15th (last) place. And that doesn’t even paint a picture of how awful it was because each of those six losses was by double digits and most were blowouts.
Transfers Des Watson and Dame Adelekun have — along with the vast improvement of Jayden Dawson — ignited a team that is far from spectacular but leads the conference in assists and defensive rebounding. The backbone is strong. . . .
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scored 45 points in a loss to Ohio State in overtime.
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
It was a treat Sunday to get the Caitlin Clark Show as an NBC lead-in to Buccaneers-Lions. Iowa lost at Ohio State in overtime, but Clark scored 45 points. She’s on track to move into third place all-time on the women’s career scoring list a couple of games from now at Northwestern. It won’t take more than a handful after that for her to pass former Washington star Kelsey Plum for first. . . .
Indiana’s men’s teams have lost 20 games in a row at Wisconsin, which has to be the craziest streak in college basketball. Some of us went to school in Madison as the pitiful Badgers were dropping 31 in a row to the once-mighty Hoosiers. . . .
A tip of the headband to the NBA for its ‘‘65-game rule,’’ which requires players to appear in at least that many games to qualify for All-NBA, MVP and other individual honors. Next time someone half your age barks about how lame players used to be, let them know that All-Stars in the Jordan era missed an average of about 10 games apiece and that the number swelled to about 14 games in the 2000s, 18 games in the 2010s and an unconscionable 24 games this decade — until now. . . .
The Bulls’ Zach LaVine, on the other hand, already has missed 18 games, leaving him with a max played of 64. In case anyone was wondering about his MVP chances. . . .
There’s sappy sentimentality, then there’s St. Louis, where MLB’s Cardinals just signed 38-year-old Matt Carpenter — who played there in 2011-21 — to a one-year deal. What, were Ray Lankford and Tom Pagnozzi too busy? . . .
Nothing is funnier than Alabama football fans (many of them fanboy media types) whining about ‘‘tampering’’ as opposing schools raid the roster for transfers, which is allowed when there’s a coaching change.
As if Alabama didn’t tamper at world-record levels in working with super-agent Jimmy Sexton as his client Nick Saban was preparing to step down. Who quickly got Saban’s former job? Sexton client Kalen DeBoer of Washington. Who was on the supposed list of candidates and got raises to stay where they were? Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, also Sexton clients. Nice work if you can get it. . . .
Such a shame about the Packers losing 24-21 to the 49ers in the divisional round as rookie Anders Carlson missed his 13th kick of the season. See? Forget quarterbacks. The Bears will take their Cairo Santos edge at the all-important kicker position, thank you very much. . . .
My ballot for the new AP Top 25, which comes out Monday: 1. UConn, 2. Purdue, 3. Houston, 4. North Carolina, 5. Kentucky, 6. Tennessee, 7. Auburn, 8. Kansas, 9. Illinois, 10. Wisconsin, 11. Oklahoma, 12. Duke, 13. Marquette, 14. Utah State, 15. Baylor, 16. Creighton, 17. Memphis, 18. Texas Tech, 19. New Mexico, 20. Dayton, 21. Colorado State, 22. San Diego State, 23. Florida Atlantic, 24. BYU, 25. Seton Hall.
ILLINOIS — On the weekend, we present a week in review of the top stories and headlines from all across Illinois. Here’s a roundup of some of the most-read stories across the state. You can also find your local Patch and catch up on those stories by clicking here.
Murder Charge Filed In I-80 Road Rage Shooting Death
State police responded to a 911 call of a shooting on I-80 and found a 30-year-old man who had been shot to death after a road rage-related crash, officials said.
Detective Killed In Shooting
Police said the officer, 40, was fatally shot after responding to a report of an armed person leaving a bank. The person accused in the shooting was also shot and is hospitalized, police said.
Happy Friday, Illinois Land!
Instead of doing the usual column with post-Thanksgiving word puns involving side dishes and jokes about turkeys, I will use my time to point out a few things that I now know about college basketball in 2025, and the place that Illinois occupies inside of that stratosphere.
I will also discuss where Illinois fits into the landscape of the Big Ten. I think you’ll like how I see that unfolding. My pending Big Ten Analysis will highlight the lack of good depth in the conference.
It is not exactly a banner year for the Big Ten in men’s college basketball. To say the least.
Despite the fact that the Big Ten has dropped in the national landscape, and despite the fact that Illinois lost to a True Elite in 2025 against Alabama in Birmingham by double digits, it’s great beyond words to have a head basketball coach leading your program playing basketball the way it needs to be played at this present date.
Brad Underwood has turned Illinois into a National Program. Do not confuse this with being a national powerhouse.
As I see it, here are the five levels of Illinois basketball. National Championship Contender can replace Blue Blood for Illinois. There was no way for me to get in a shot at Indiana and its fans unless I constituted it this way.
For reference: Indiana is now No. 61 in KenPom (76 in OER, and 51 in DER). I was told that they are the conference favorite. I was also told Illinois cannot play defense. More on this in a bit.
- Conference Bottomfeeder (Year 1-2): 26-39 in his first two seasons, 11-27 in the Big Ten. I would call this 1990s Era coaching. Up the line, full court pressure, etc.
- Respected NCAA Tournament Team (Year 3+): This will be five-straight non-bubble NCAATs for Underwood, six if you count the COVID-19 cancellation of 2020.
- Big Ten Power (Year 3+): In turn, this makes you a Final Four contender on semi-annual basis, at a minimum. I don’t mean make a Final Four, but be a Top Four seed. No one believes that NC State had a better season than Illinois last year.
- National (and International) Program (Year 4+): Playing games on CBS on Thanksgiving by request, re-hiring arguably the country’s top assistant coach (Orlando Antigua), signing two potential lottery picks from two countries outside the United States. I could go on, but I won’t. You get it.
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- Blue Blood (Never): This outdated term continues to keep Indiana fans from jumping off the nearest bridge for the last three-plus decades. Illinois will never be here. UCONN can’t get into the club with six National Championships since 1999.
Having said that, I’m going to say this.
John Calipari is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He has taken three different programs to the Final Four: Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky. He is an all-time great coach with a dazzling record (814-260, for a .758 winning percentage).
Calipari won an NCAA Tournament and cut down the nets in 2012, his third year in Lexington leading the Cats. He was outstanding at Kentucky (410-123), winning games at a .769 clip during his 15-year tenure.
He inexplicably missed the NCAA Tournament twice, going just 9-16 in 2021. His last three years, Kentucky lost 30 games and twice in the NCAAT to vastly inferior teams against No. 15 St. Peter’s and last year against No. 14 Oakland.
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Please read the words I type. Do not create a false narrative around comparing Calipari and Underwood, in totality.
Underwood certainly has not had the career of Calipari — it’s not close — nor will he likely end up in the Hall of Fame anywhere outside of Champaign. Not impossible, but not likely.
Looking to the future, it’s clear which coach of the pair from the Thanksgiving matchup in Kansas City has the brighter future. This isn’t close, either.
While Underwood’s Illini blitzed Arkansas with a barrage of threes, high ball screens and floor spacing for play makers, Calipari and Kentu…Arkansas…had a plan “to attack the rim all game,” according to Calipari post-game.
Arkansas ATTEMPTED 17 threes. Illinois MADE 15. Illinois was +30 in in this category.
Frees (points at the free throw line) and threes (points behind the arc) is something I look at during every halftime, and after every game.
Illinois was +29 in this category. BU’s squad scored 90 points on the elite Arkansas defense, which was ranked No. 8 in KenPom DER prior to the contest.
The Illini had 60 of their 90 points (67.7%) of their points on Frees and Threes. Check on this stat every game that Underwood and Illinois play the entirety of the season. It will likely tell the story.
Factor in 2P% defense and you can get the winner of every game Illinois plays this year. The defensive strategy of Illinois is to defend the bucket and the arc. Despite giving a bucket full to Alabama in the lone loss (100-87), Illinois is currently No. 21 in DER.
Let’s take a look at pace of play, and how it affects efficiency, from a large scale perspective. What Illinois is doing is hard to copy.
For that matter, the Illinois offense is now No. 18 in OER (Offensive Efficiency Rating). Of the top 21 in DER on KenPom, Illinois has the FASTEST tempo, at No. 36.
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In summary, Illinois plays in the Top 10% in pace of play and ranks even better in efficiency at both ends. It’s not only extremely difficult to do, but largely unnecessary.
When you play fast and efficient on offense, defense lessens in importance in direct correlation with how more efficient your offense can be. In short, play fast and good on offense and you outscore your opponent and win based on simple math.
Here are the avearages for defensive and offensive efficiency. The lower the number, the faster the pace.
Top 5 DERs in terms of pace average: 260.6
Top 5 OERs in terms of pace average: 66.8
Illinois pace of play: 36 (Top 21 in both DER and OER)
I know it’s a lot of numbers. I get it. Underwood has embraced the numbers game and turned Illinois from a Big Ten Bottomfeeder to a National Program.
You may not like it, but you’re gonna learn to love it.
Please take The Scientific Poll.
Poll
What is the win ceiling for Illinois men’s basketball in 2024-25?
This is threes and frees. This is creating space. This is the winning formula.
This is Illinois Basketball.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis scored a season-high 23 points, Tomislav Ivisic had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Illinois beat No. 19 Arkansas 90-77 on Thursday in the Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase.
Jakucionis hit two free throws to give Illinois a double-digit lead with 3:49 remaining in the game. Arkansas had a turnover and a missed jumper on its next two possessions and Jakucionis hit an open 3-pointer to make it 85-71 at 2:42.
Kylan Boswell added 18 points for Illinois (6-1). Head coach Brad Underwood broke a tie with J. Craig Ruby (1922-36) for fifth place in program history with 149 wins.
Adou Thiero went 12 of 21 from the line and scored 26 points for Arkansas (5-2). Zvonimir Ivisic had 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Takeaways
Tomislav Ivisic won the battle against his twin brother, Zvonimir. Along with his double-double, Tomislav Ivisic made 6 of 9 3-pointers and blocked three shots. The 7-foot-1 center, playing his first college season, had 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
Key moment
Illinois stated the game on a 21-6 run and maintained at least a nine-point lead the rest of the way. Ben Humrichous made the Illini’s fifth 3-pointer with 12:36 left in the first half while Arkansas was 3 of 9 from the field.
Key stat
Illinois made 55% of its shots in the first half, including 9 of 16 from 3-point range, while Arkansas was 0 for 7 from long distance and shot 44% overall. The Illini finished 15 of 31 from distance. Arkansas shot 5 of 17 beyond the arc.
Up next
Arkansas plays at Miami in the second SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday. Illinois plays at Northwestern on Dec. 6 to begin Big Ten play.
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