Illinois Basketball: Marcus Domask Dominates Home State Badgers

Illinois Basketball: Marcus Domask Dominates Home State Badgers

Illinois Basketball snagged a massive quad-one road win vs the Wisconsin Badgers, and the stars shined for Illinois in Madison. Terrence Shannon Jr scored 23, going 6-13 from the floor, and 3-6 from deep in a nice game for the potential All-American. Justin Harmon and Coleman Hawkins had some solid contributions on both sides of the floor as well.

However, the star of the show was Marcus Domask. Marcus was voted the state of Wisconsin’s “Mr. Basketball” by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association in 2019. Without a doubt, he made his presence known in his home state once again today. 31 points, 3 assists, 12-21 from the floor, and 4-6 from 3-point range led to quite the homecoming for Domask. His rather large cheer section in Badger territory must have been a sweet motivator, as the Illinois Forward certainly looked determined to get Illinois this win. After a tight back-and-forth matchup for the majority of the first 32 minutes of gameplay, Marcus helped the Illini kick the door down. The Wisconsin defense was really starting to feel the pressure after tough offensive efforts from Shannon and Domask got the Badgers in deep foul trouble. Domask and the Illini followed suit and took advantage.

Thoughts

Illinois Basketball was able to secure a tough win on the road in a very tough Big Ten matchup. Another high-flying game with not a ton of defense, but 91 points scored vs a very good opponent. This brand of Illinois has been different, and not always pretty, but Illinois is finding ways to flat-out score opponents and snag big wins. The epic meltdown vs Penn State looms large, as Illinois could have been even closer to Purdue for the Big Ten regular season title.

Regardless, Brad Underwood is looking at another top-4 finish in the Big Ten. Illinois Basketball is 5-5 in quad-one games and 10-7 in the first two quadrants. They will have two more quad-one opportunities as they try to bump their seed up in March madness.