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Welcome to Good Morning, Illini Nation, your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini sportswriter and AP Top 25 pick Scott Richey. Each morning he shares insight on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball in general:
You may be wondering why a photo of Orlando Antigua with this letter about nonconference games in the new year? It’s actually quite simple.
Antigua, now Illinois’ associate head coach, actually took the court at what was then Assembly Hall the last time the Illini played a nonconference game in the middle of the Big Ten schedule. Antigua, then a sophomore forward at Pittsburgh, came off the bench to score nine points for the Panthers in their 95-79 win over Illinois on Feb. 13, 1993. Deon Thomas did score 26 points for the Illini, but it wasn’t enough as Chris McNeal scored 30 points for Pitt, the most of the game.
That’s how far back you have to go to find a scenario like the one Illinois faces next season when it plays Duke at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Feb. 22. The Illini have played four other non-conference games in the new year over the past two decades — Gonzaga (2010), Illinois State (2004), Oakland (2003) and Texas (1994) — but they all came in early January as precursors to conference games.
Illinois-Duke comes about three weeks before the end of the regular season, a game that could have a big impact on seeding in the NCAA tournament because of its unique nature.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said of scheduling the Duke game. “You have to get two conferences to rework some things from a playing perspective and move some things around and accommodate that. The Big Ten on our side has been extremely accommodating in terms of trying to make that happen.”
“It’s obviously going to be a prime-time game on Saturday night. I think it’s 8 o’clock on Saturday night, so it’s not going to get any bigger at the Garden. … Duke is going to be Duke. Cooper (Flagg) is arguably the best player in the country. It’s going to be a game with some very, very talented young freshmen who will have grown up by then.”
