Nothing bigger than a road win.
The Illini earned their third road win of the season with a 75-69 victory on Sunday. The crowd helped the Hawkeyes make a late surge and cut the lead to four, but Illinois stayed calm and composed to close out an impressive win.
“A road win in this league is like gold,” said head coach Brad Underwood.
Any win away from home in the Big Ten is significant, and Illinois has already racked up three road victories in conference play with wins at Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa. That total already puts the Illini more than halfway to last season’s road win mark of five.
Illinois’ perfect road record is tied with Nebraska, Michigan and Purdue. All four teams have separated themselves as conference title contenders and will continue to be difficult to beat, regardless of where the game is played.
The Illini will have another opportunity to add to their road win total on Wednesday night against in-state rival Northwestern. The Wildcats have beaten Illinois in their home building in each of the past three seasons and will look for another upset to make it four straight.
Illinois appears to have the superior team in this year’s matchup, but anything can happen in a rivalry game. Northwestern is currently 0–5 in Big Ten play and has lost seven straight games against high-major opponents.
Illinois heads to Evanston as a 9.5-point favorite and will look to keep pace atop the conference with another road victory.
Category: General Sports
