Illinois basketball makes history with a 109-77 win over #9 Oregon in Eugene. Mike Carpenter discusses the dominant performance, one of (if not the) best of the Brad Underwood era. The 32-point margin is the largest of any road opponent against an AP top ten team ever. Jake Davis and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn combined for 23 first half points to spur on the Illini, while Kasparas Jakucionis, Kylan Boswell, Tre White, and Ben Humrichous (no, seriously!) keyed on a 64-point second half outburst. Next up: at Washington on Sunday afternoon.
The 200 Level with Mike Carpenter: A Fighting Illini Fan Podcast
Duck Season (01/03/25)
It is the 200 level, my carpenter back, a beautiful sunny champagne, Illinois, about 50 degrees cooler than it was down in Orlando, and Happy New Year, first of all. A very good start to the year and a very good finish to the year of 2024 for Illinois athletics. I got to say, if you could find me a better 48-hour period for Illinois revenue sports in recent history, let me know, because between winning the Citrus Bowl and capping off a 10-win season for this football program, and then 48 hours later going out and beating a top 10 team on the road, but not just beating them, beating them in literally historic fashion, and we'll get to some of those tidbits in just a bit. I wouldn't have taken that any day the week. I mean, I remember thinking last week as we're going through the Christmas holiday and I'm looking forward to the trip to Orlando, I had no designs on Illinois actually winning that game. Truly, if I'm being honest with you, I was in, I'm happy to be here mode. I'm happy to go to the Citrus Bowl and see whatever happens. And then for basketball, after the Missouri game and then an encouraging performance, I'll be getting us to a really bad Chicago state team, I thought, hey, it's a process. There's clearly talent on this team. I think that they can be peaking in March, and let's just sit back and enjoy the ride. I was truly in just content mode, happy with the state of things, but also not trying to bite off more than I could chew. Well, the last 48 hours make it difficult for any Illinois fan to be anything but absolutely ecstatic about the state of our athletic program, because your two big money makers are just straight up kicking ass right now and garnering national headlines with two coaches that do not shy away from the spotlight, that have a bit of a swagger and a bit of a chip on their shoulders and they seem to really embody a lot of the things that Alonai fandom has as well. You know, we'd like to fancy ourselves a really good athletic program and certainly for basketball, they've lived up to that for most of their existence, but we want more, we crave more and we have two head coaches in the football and men's side, and then Shawn Agree and as well doing a great job with women's that are basically ignoring any past failures and any sort of albatross that we might have had on our shoulders from decades past of, you know, weight season, crushing disappointments and things like that. But what they're really doing is erasing all that toxicity that's pulled up and they're saying this is the new reality of what we're doing. So last night, what happened in Eugene, Oregon? First of all, first of all, it was not the first time we've seen a Brad Underwood team go on the road with top 10 team and not just beat them, but absolutely kick the living crap out of them. As I'm watching that second half last night, I kept thinking back to March 2021 when Iowa was still injured with the facial injury, thank you, Matty Sisoko, and we went to number two Michigan and beat them by damn near 30. I'd have to check the final score on that, but it was an absolute drubbing and maybe the first sign, truly, that Joann Howard was not good and that we were actually quite good and that this Brad Underwood guy might know what he's doing. So that flashback to my mind, but what made this so jarring last night was while we had seen signs that this team was very talented, we had never seen a 40 minute stretch, where they put everything together. And if we had, I guess you would have to go to Chicago State where you did what you had to do against a really bad team and beat them by what, 40 points, well, it wasn't all that different last night and all the metrics suggested that Oregon was, in fact, a top 10 caliber team, not just their ranking, number nine, but also Ken Palm and some of the others would rank them pretty highly if not top 10, top 12-ish, certainly a top three seed in the NCAA tournament. In a wonderful swoop, you essentially leapfrogged Oregon, you reasserted your favorite status in the Big Ten race at the turn of the calendar. And more than that, I think, because I'd love to win a Big Ten title, but I don't know if that's really the primary goal this year, more than that, you got the national spotlight back on you as a program. John Fanta, who does a really good job for Field of '68 said last night, if that wasn't the most dominant performance by any team so far this year, it was at least second. And the first example he gave was what Gonzaga did to Baylor early the year. I think it was the first day of the season actually, where they absolutely smoked Baylor. And John Fanta, who's, you know, he's a good character, a lot of personality with what he does, but he's very even keeled in his analysis. He takes his glasses off and he just peers into his Zoom camera on the Field of '68 feed to really drive home the point that Illinois scored 109 points on the road against a Ken Palm top 20 defense. And before we go any further, and the defense certainly was good yet again for Illinois, to see that offensive explosion from a team just getting through their 13th game together is pretty damn encouraging. And that might be the understatement of this year, which I know is only three days old, but nonetheless, encouraging to say the least that this team already found that next gear in their third conference game in their 13th game overall on the road and albeit not a very tough environment because there was nobody there, definitely a football school, though it didn't really appear that way on New Year's Day at the Rose Bowl. It was wholly impressive to the point where any national pundit would have to look at that and say, "Wow, we really got to reevaluate this Illinois team because they are not just top 20, top 21, I think they were 21st and latest AP poll, they aren't just that." Clearly, there is more there. And I think the reason that people, understandably, didn't want to get too far ahead of themselves or put the car before the horse with this Illinois team was because while there clearly is talent on that roster. We just had not seen everything coalesce into one complete game. Tennessee, admirable effort, should have closed it out, didn't close it out. The finishing Northwestern, I think, planted the seed in some people's minds that this was a very talented Illinois team, but that they were going to stub their toe more than a few times this year just by virtue of being a bunch of new pieces and maybe occasionally lacking that experience needed to win games down the stretch. Alabama kind of kicked your butt and that was back in November, so that was early. But here we are, a month and a half removed from that and two months removed from the Ole Miss exhibition game, which did not go well. And we are left, quite frankly, stunned by what we just witnessed last night. I don't know about you, but I woke up this morning thinking, "What the hell was that?" What the hell was that in the best way possible, I assure you? Making up and thinking, "Did I really just watch that?" And to kind of like set the scene as to how I consume this game, I get back from Orlando mid-afternoon and travel, air travel, especially out of that airport. It takes a lot out of you, so I get home and I'm like, "Listen, 9pm Central, I'm going to start the game." I hit record on Hulu in case I were to have fallen asleep. Tap goes, "Okay, it's 9.50, nice brisk first half. I'm going to go upstairs, I'm going to have the start of the second half on my phone. We'll see how long I make it." Yeah, I was watching the entire second half on my phone in my bed, just unable to go to sleep because my eyes, widest quarters, when my body was telling them to shut, was trying to make sense of what I was watching on my phone. To be able to go back today, because I had recorded it, and really just watched that second half again, it was exhilarating basketball. The pace with which they played, the efficiency with which they scored, the unselfish nature in which they distributed the ball to one another. It was a thing of beauty, and offensively, the likes that we have not seen since 0405. Now that team, I don't think they ever scored 109 points in a game. They were a very interesting mix of unselfish, efficient offense, just pulverizing defense. Do not sleep on how good that 0405 team was defensively, which is why this team is encouraging early on. And I only bring that comparison up, not to say that this team is ultimately going to become one of the greatest Alumni teams ever. But it really reminded me of that Gonzaga game. Back in '04, and that was relatively early in that season, where you were a neutral site in Indianapolis, and I know that the Wake Forest game a week later was even more consequential, but it was the Gonzaga game where you opened your eyes and said, "Holy crap, I knew we'd be good. I just didn't know it could be that good." And that's what last night felt like. Now when you make shots, everything feels good. This team may not make shots at that clip for a while, and as Brad Underwood said in the post-game press conference, it was one of those nights, and we get like two or three of those a year probably. It certainly was one of those nights. But even if they play at 80% of what they did last night, there are not many games in the schedule that they're going to lose. So if you are cautioning yourselves about, boy, my expectations for this team, they just, they blew up after one game, "Do I need to kind of caution myself?" I would say, "Well, maybe you shouldn't go overboard." It is certainly fair to recalibrate what you think this team can do based on what they did last night. It was just that damn good, and the signs were there. They were in bits and starts. I thought the Missouri game overall, Illinois, played well. Just Missouri was scrappy, and Bentham Rickhouse was really bad, and some of the substitution patterns early, I thought were really kind of hurting you. I wonder what did get better with that. And the Chicago State game, you always feel like it's an incomplete grade because of the opponent. They're so bad. But there were signs throughout the course of the season that made you say, "Damn, man, when they're going, they're going," and sometimes it just clicks. And for it to do that, in the first game of this program's first-ever conference West Coast road trip, to announce yourselves or reintroduce yourselves to the rest of the Big Ten and the national media as well, in that manner, with a team that does have a lot of youth, but even that youth sometimes, like a KJ or Thomas Law of is actually quite an experience of the game of basketball. It seems to suggest to me that this team is very professional in the way that it goes about its business. When you have a team that is full of essentially professional basketball players, some of which have been playing literal professional basketball in Europe, I am a little bit less worried about this team getting too high on themselves or feeling too good about where they're at and leading to a few too many games that they lose that maybe they shouldn't. I'm a little bit less concerned about that. And one thing before I wrap up this opening segment that has really stuck out to me for the entire course of the season so far with this 10 and 3 basketball team is I've never had an issue with perceived work ethic or the effort they were putting out or their demeanor. This is anything but 2022, 23. This is not the Matthew Meyer team or the Jaden Epps or the Sky Clark. This is not that. A lot of the lessons that Brad Underwood learned and roster construction that year he put into this one and we saw last night for 40 minutes what it looks like when all these individual pieces, nine deep, are each playing the role that they are asked to play. And it was a beautiful sight to behold. And I think it bodes very well as this big 10th stretch continues. So we got a lot to talk about today with that game. I think I'm going to hold off on football because I want to devote one more full podcast to what the Citrus Bowl was like and how that ended the season just as the days go on. And I'm still kind of gathering mentally how big that win was on so many levels for Brett Bielman, this football program. So I want to do it. I want to devote a separate podcast to that and really focus this on the line of basketball. Let's do that today. And we do have a live podcast Sunday. Maybe you'll be during a blizzard, the great blizzard of 2025. If that does pan out here for central Illinois, but Illinois plays Washington on Sunday afternoon at three. So we'll do a second half podcast for that. But before I get too far ahead of myself, got to remind you that the 200 level is brought to you by Hamilton Walkers downtown champagne for steak, seafood and spirits Hamilton Walkers best restaurant in Champaign Urbana went there for a Christmas dinner with my wife and parents and a few family friends and it was a really good way to kind of get us into the Christmas spirit about five days before the actual holiday. I would recommend that whether it is a date night or something more informal, even a pre-game meal, Hamilton Walkers is a great spot for you. Easy parking all around after five o'clock, the BUC lot next door is free. There's plenty of metered spaces in a parking garage as well, but that parking never an issue by Hamilton Walkers. So if you are having to come in for a basketball game, which when is the next home game? I think it's later next week against Penn State and then USC, a couple of opportunities right there where you can get a pre-game meal in Hamilton Walkers and downtown Champaign. Also got to think State Farm Agent Brian Hanson online at brianismyguy.com. For life auto home business renters, you name it, Brian is our guy and he can be your guy as well. We have a homeowners and auto bundle through Brian and his staff and just got to say ever since we joined them four years ago, it has just made our insurance needs that much easier. We don't really need to worry about anything. The communication is always very quick and easy with them and the prices, as you would expect from State Farm, pretty much as competitive as you're going to get in the insurance industry. That's Brian Hanson, State Farm Agent online at brianismyguy.com. Also got to think Dogtown Heating Aaron Plumbing, your home's best friend. Give them a call at 217-841-4728. Appreciate Cody and the whole staff over at Dogtown. What they've done for our HVAC system, which is a little bit on the older side, but it's still working fantastically and we, it's getting tested since I got back from Orlando. It got really cold last night. It's really cold today. It will be there for the next week and a half. We don't have to worry about it though. We have peace of mind after they came out, did a furnace check in December and made sure everything was operating tip-top. It's Dogtown Heating Aaron Plumbing, 217-841-4728. Finally, Owen Builders LLC, online at Owen Builders LLC.com. Saul Luke and his wife down at Orlando, as I was chatting with Isaac Ambrose, who I was able to spot with him and his mom as well, which was great to see her. Luke was wearing a 200 level T-shirt at the Pepper Alley. Just super sweet lady. It was cool to see the Ambrose's, but Luke as well took the trip down their huge Alonai fan and when it comes to what they can do for your home, you can check out a gallery of their work online at Owen Builders LLC.com and get a free quote while you're there. That's Owen Builders LLC.com. Got to thank Champagne Showers Podcast Network and got to thank you, the listener and some of the viewers popping in on this unannounced podcast. I didn't know what time I would do it today and went for a brisk run. Brisk is putting it mildly and got back, said, "All right, let's get cleaned up. Let's do the podcast. Might go out and get some Citrus Bowl swag later. I'm still basking in the glow of that." One thing, one remind everybody, now that we are back in basketball mode, though you can still bask in the glow of the Citrus Bowl. Maybe I'll do a football book someday. The Alonai basketball fan book right here, the 200 level in Illinois fighting Alonai basketball fans journey. It was really cool. I was leaving the Citrus Bowl and everyone's jacked up and I'm walking out of Camping World Stadium and I hear, "Carp, carp!" I turn around and gosh, I wish I had remembered the name so I apologize. The bigger guy probably early 20s, mid 20s, and said, "Hey, man, my dad bought me your book for Christmas and I just, he's coming up. I just want to show him who the author was." I was like, "Oh, cool, cool." So really cool father/son that it made the trek down to the Citrus Bowl for that. This is cool, too. I was at Disney World the next morning and got there bright and early and of course rocked my Illinois shirt, which I was going to do no matter what. No matter what happened to Citrus Bowl, I only packed Alonai shirts, but I felt especially good on New Year's Day. I'm just cloud nine and I get to, you know, you can get into Disney about an hour before the rides actually open up and you can just walk through Main Street, USA and up towards Cinderella's Castle and all that and Andy, who's the listener of the podcast, spotted me and we talked for about 30 seconds and he said he had gotten the book for Christmas and he's going to be checking it out when he gets back home. So all that to say, you know, it's always been cool since I did Radio 93.5 and doing the podcast, just say hi to people out and about. It's very humbling because it's... I feel as if what I do is merely just one talking piece for what is a very diverse range of Alonai fandom and I would never pretend to speak for everybody because I simply don't and I overreact sometimes, very rarely do I ever under react, probably, but it is really cool though to just run into any Alonai fan who gets anything out of the podcast and just feels like, hey, I want to say hi to carp. That really does mean a lot. So I appreciate that. And what it also did for me down in Orlando and what was such a fun bit of that trip was even though I was a 800 miles from I mean, it's a 16 hour drive, two hour flight, you're a long way from Champaign Urbana, it did not at all feel that way. I mean, probably six, seven times throughout the day of Disney, ILL, you know. So that if you were to ask why sports are so cool and why we invest all that time and energy in it, it hit me on a very kind of personal level, this not weekend, but last few days in Orlando just by feeling like you were surrounded by your people. Very tribal, for sure, for better or worse. That's what sports fandom is. It's very tribal. But man, when you're with your tribe and things are going good, what a place to be. And you know, my wife was not able to make the trip because while we had some dog sitting issues that popped up and she's got a trip home coming up as well. So we kind of divvied up the dog taking care of duties. So I was flying solo for much of that trip. I never felt that way. Just thought that was cool. And even on the flight back to Indy yesterday and just the amount of orange on that frontier airlines flight, it's cool. You know, Illinois fans, I think every fan base is nuts. I think Alonai fans are nuts. I'm nuts for sure. I'm not saying that I'm not, but it's fun. You know, it's just really cool. It's really fun. It's like a warm blanket. Sometimes when you feel like you're surrounded by other Alonai fans. And that's why that whole trip, just chicken soup for the soul and I'll be riding that for a while. But here's your encore. I get back home as a lot of Alonai fans probably did from Orlando yesterday thinking, oh man, it's going to be hard to turn the page and I want to be more excited about this game against the top 10 team on the road. I really do, but I just want to have a lot of juice left. I even ran to a guy at the Indy airport and he said, all right, now if we could just one tonight and I said, man, for sure, I was like, I'm still like so in football mode right now, or like, I might need a nap or something when I get home and he just kind of laughed. But I mean, I was being honest. I was not much at all thinking about the game yesterday. I wasn't. And then it starts and it's a quick 7-2 lead for Oregon and okay, well, let's just see what happens. If the rest of the first half goes on pretty swimmingly, Alonai looked good pretty much for 36 minutes of that game. They didn't score for the first three, they scored 109 points in 37 minutes of basketball, which would make an NBA team blush. I had this weird thought yesterday. Sometimes it feels like things happen in bunches that Alonai was going to win that game and I had no rhyme or reason behind that. I just, I was not worried about it, which part partially probably speaks to the fact that we had won the Citrus Bowl, so my mind was elsewhere. But I also thought, you know what, I think we're due for a big win, we're showing positive signs. I think we put it together and we get a big win that would race my eyebrows tonight. But a big win on the road against number 10 can be by one point. That's a big win. This was utter annihilation, the likes of which, like I mentioned, haven't seen since the Michigan game in 2021, the likes of which you don't see very much as a basketball fan of any program to go on the road and win by that much. You know, this is not Brad Underwood's first top 10 road win. If you think about back in 2020, Penn State, I'm pretty sure was a top 10 team when you went in there after I/O came back from an injury scare, leddie to victory, one of my favorite wins of that first, what would have been a tournament team for Brad Underwood if not for COVID. And then the next year you went on the road at Michigan, at Ohio State, which I'm pretty sure was a top 10 team as well. That was within the same week, Wisconsin was a top 20 team. You won all three of your final regular season games and you looked really good doing it. This is not unusual for him, it feels like. And another feather in your cap, you add this Oregon win to what is now kind of becoming an increasingly long list of impressive big time wins for Brad Underwood's program. So the first thing I was thinking about is, wow, Brad Underwood runs a really good program. And I wanted to start with that only because I feel like sometimes my criticisms of Brad Underwood can get misconstrued as an indictment of the program as a whole. It couldn't be further from that at all. To give you a quick anecdote, during the Chicago State game, Ben Humrickhouse started. And I thought if there was an opportunity to try him off the bench to maybe give him some different looks that get him going, why not the Chicago State game? Do that before you go out west? Well they didn't do that. And I tweeted out, man, find someone that loves you as much as Brad Underwood loves starting Ben Humrickhouse. Yes, that was a criticism of what I thought was a bad decision in regards to the rotation. A guy named Kevin Ducey who runs another Alanae podcast didn't take too kindly to that. And there was a bit of a back and forth, but I was just defending my point. And I thought it was, you know, I didn't expect to get attacked for that because I thought it was if you deemed it a snarky, fine, I can do that sometimes. Just a criticism of personnel, not of Brad Underwood, ran into Kevin down in Orlando. And I didn't really recognize him. He introduced himself to me and we talked for a few minutes. It was all completely fine and a good conversation with him and he kind of chalked it up, hey, you know, sorry, I don't know if he said sorry, but just said that Twitter run in. I'm like, hey, it happens. It's sports. But as I think I told him in so many words, Brad Underwood's really good at this. He's really, really good at leading a college basketball program. And I'll try to say this often enough so people understand where I'm at with him. If you said, who would you trade Brad Underwood for in college basketball right now? I would have to sit long and hard and think about that because it is a very short list of guys that I would even consider taking above Brad Underwood for a variety of reasons. But the biggest one I think is because in this transfer portal, NIL era, he has done it remarkably well and he continues to adapt and continues to evolve. And while there can be intermittent, what would be the word for it, stubbornness when it comes to maybe rotations and things like that, overall, he is not stubborn enough to admit this isn't working or trying something else. That is rare for college coaches, so please understand whether it's on the podcast or on Twitter, if I criticize Brad Underwood, it's probably going to be a very micro level because I don't have a lot of macro concerns anymore with Brad Underwood. It'd be hard to do that. I mean, two years ago, admittedly, after 2022, 23, I wondered where the hell is this thing going? It didn't feel good. It felt like some toxicity had kind of crept into the thing in a way that it hadn't before. It felt like maybe a window of opportunity might have shut, but what he's proven me wrong in that regard is that there is no singular window of opportunity when Brad Underwood's the coach because he will continually find ways to add talent to the roster and give this program a chance to make a deep run and make some noise. So I wanted to get that out there and also say just how much I appreciate the fact that a game like last night while surprising is simply not shocking with this Illinois basketball program right now. I know the Purdue was Zack Edie won a couple straight Big Ten titles. They made the national title game last year. They were better than you last year. They were better than you the year before that, even though you got the regular season or all two years before that, when you got the regular season crown, that Purdue team which Aidan Ivy probably was still better than you were that three year run right there. That was produce. I do think a Zack Edie has a lot to do with that as good of a coach as Matt Painter is. So at absolute worst, at absolute worst, Brad Underwood has had the second best Big Ten program during that time span and still has the remarkable stat of being the winningest program in the Big Ten since 2020. That's nothing to sneeze at. So last night, while surprising is not shocking given the fact that the talent we knew was there for this team to be really good, Brad Underwood's teams tend to play pretty well on the road and that winning Big Ten road games anymore for this program is expected. The fact that I woke up yesterday thinking, "Yeah, I think we beat Oregon." Why would I think that? Yes, probably because my mind was still on football and I said, "Yeah, what the hell? I think we'll get this." I wasn't thinking too deep about it, but it was also informed by the fact that Brad Underwood and this basketball program went a lot of big games. I know maybe not as much in the non-conference, but when it comes to the Big Ten and when they get in the month of January, they really get going. It is very Izzo-esque. I hope that the final four banners and things that Izzo has started to happen for Brad Underwood in Illinois and I think that there's a good chance that they do. But that's just it. I would not in my mind be able to make the leap to, "Oh, I think we're going to win on the road against number nine Oregon." Not even sweat the game, not even sweat it. Just all right, let's tip it, let's see what happens. That is remarkable confidence in a basketball program, but it is earned. That confidence has been earned by Brad Underwood in the way that no matter what their roster is, they tend to win big games every year. The kind we wake up the next day like, "Damn, that was nice." So whatever I hoped for with him coming in, which was simply make tournaments, has been far surpassed because you are making tournaments. You finally made the run last year that shows you can't win tournament games, but for the long five-month slog of a regular season, that's where Brad Underwood has been pretty damn consistent year in year out. So what a good place you're in, right? I wanted to start with that macro, Brad Underwood conversation just to reiterate how remarkable of a job he's done. I wrote a freaking book about a line I've asked about, "Trust me, I'm not down on Brad Underwood." I mean, I thought it was interesting after the Tennessee game where I was disappointed as anybody else that some Alani fans were weeping towards and the Northwestern game. I was pissed off about that. But after each of those, there was still a segment of the fan base that somehow convinced the Brad Underwood's not a good coach, and I think I would simply counter it by saying he is an imperfect coach, and I don't think anyone would ever put him in the top ten of in-game coaching adjustments. But there is also something about having your team on the whole on a macro level ready to face almost any opponent, and I think that's where he excels. I think game plan wise, typically, very good. I think overall program management, very good. There are very few coaches that can check every single box. He checks most of them, and if you were to say, "Well, carp, is that good enough for you?" Hell yeah, it is good enough for me. It's more than good enough, and if you can somehow see him parlay this into a final four banner, or fingers crossed, that elusive national title, then he'll be the best coach in Illinois history. I mean, this is where Brad Underwood's at. He is a final four appearance, or a national title away from being rightfully called the best coach in Illinois basketball history, period, full stop, and those are not easy things to attain. Okay, I mean, final four is a hard to make. National titles are even harder to win. I think if he gets enough bites to the apple, he's going to do that, at which point he will become the best basketball coach in this program's history, and there have been a lot of good ones. So, just keep that in mind. He's knocking on that door of statue territory if he were to do that. I mean, really? Think about both sides of Kirby Avenue right now. What a world we're living in. I know this is not going to be a football podcast, but we literally have a Citrus Bowl champion football program, and we have a basketball team that just won on the road at number nine, Oregon by 30, ho hum, this is not normal, that this is truly special stuff going on. I mean, I'm just trying to soak every bit of it in that I can. And I appreciate it. I love the fact that if people want to talk a lot of sports, there was a good decade's worth where I didn't want to do that outside the radio station. I'd be talking at a family gathering or something, and you would have, "Hey, so what do you think about this?" And I'm like, "Oh, God." In my mind, I'm thinking, "I don't know if I can talk about John Eakey for another three minutes." I did hours of that on the radio this week. And then I gave the conversation, I would try to muster up that excitement or enthusiasm about an Illinois basketball program that was middling it best. Hell, you want to talk about it now? Let's do it. That's what success breeds. It breeds just increased enthusiasm and the want to talk about it, and it's a nice place to be. I got a few things here on the YouTube feed that I want to get to before I get a little bit more into the nitty gritty of yesterday's game. As I do that, I do need a little bit of water. My voice is still feeling the citrus bowl. I think there was probably Josh McCrae's 60-yarder that took a few vocal modules or something out of my vocal cords. I mean, that was the moment right there. All right, here we go. This is from John. I still can't believe this was the biggest margin of victory from any college basketball team on the road against an AP top 10 ever. That was such a cool thing to watch. John, I'm glad you brought that up. On a lot of my stats and notes, one of my favorite Twitter follows, they had it right here. Illinois's 32-point margin of victory over Oregon is its largest over top 10 team on the road in program history, but then they go on. This is from Jared Berson, Jared is college basketball statistical guy. And he went on to find that the 32-point margin of victory is in fact the largest ever by any team in a road game against an AP top 10 opponent ever. So yeah, we saw history last night. If you were watching that second half like I was and thinking to yourself, "What in the hell is going on?" This is really cool, isn't it? Yeah, it was. It was truly once in a lifetime kind of game. What else we got here? Jacob says, "Happy New Year." Hey, Jacob. Same to you, man. I appreciate that. Jason with an IOL. Many of those, I got in Orlando. Jason's back to you. I and I. From jailbreak. Illinois has quite the roster, it looks like it's coming together. Easier for me to give Underwood some slack with so many new players. I'm a bit impressed with them right now. A jailbreak. I stand by so far and there's a lot of season left to play. Brad Underwood's best coaching job in my mind was the Big Ten regular season title in 2022. That was post I/O. It was Kofi Trent, Alfonso Plummer. Coleman was starting to come on a little bit. DeMante was still there. Grandison, but then he got hurt later in the year. Cribello was a bit of a mess. Benjamin Bosnins for Donk got significant playing time backing up Kofi. I mean, think about that. And that team won a regular season Big Ten title. To me, that was maybe his least talented team since 2019-20 and they still hung a banner. So that was, I think, his best coaching performance. But this has an opportunity to be his piece de resistance because last year was very much predicated on two spectacular talents. Tara Chan and Junior was the engine on which that entire team ran last year. Marcus Demask, you couldn't do much better for a so-called number two guy. You couldn't. Those two guys elevated so much around them. Coleman, for the most part, had a good year. Only a couple stinkers like at Penn State, but he was overall really consistent and really good. And that team on the strength of their two best players and some good role-playing from Dane Danger late, Luke Goody late. Gosh, I'm trying to think if I'm missing anybody on last year's team. See, Marcus Demask, Terence Shannon, Coleman Hawkins, how do I feel like I'm missing some? I mean, Ty Rogers started every game last year, right? I think he started every game. So impressive, you know, that team making the Elite Eight, having as good an offense as they did, speaks volumes of the kind of coach that Brad Underwood is. But I do think that this year with all these new pieces already seemingly coming together, it has the opportunity to be his best coaching gig yet. So that would be cool to see and fold if that's indeed what happens. Okay. So some other stats here. I want to go down this actual box score and just point out the individual performances of which there were very few that were lacking. Everyone contributed. Now, the first half was a lot of fun in and of itself. And that is thanks to Jake Davis and Dre Gibbs Lawhorn. When KJ went out with two fouls, the thought is just somehow getting a half time tied or thereabouts. But yeah, Jake Davis and Dre Gibbs Lawhorn going on this ridiculous heater where they combine for 23 points in the first half. Overall, Jake Davis finishes with how many points here, 12 points in 11 minutes, five of six shooting, two darts from a three point range. But here's the other thing too, three boards. Three boards. Very timely as well. One of them and easy put back. Maybe two of them actually, now they think about it. Nose for the ball, defense looked fine. He just seems to be finding himself into the coaching staff's good graces, probably because he is a smart basketball player that is not going to hurt you for one. And if he can make some shots, he is definitely not positive. So he was big. Dre Gibbs Lawhorn, so cool to see him have that performance, 11 points. Those two guys got all 23 other points in the first half, I believe. Dre with his 11, five of six shooting, one for two from three, two boards. He got a cyst, 20 minutes of action. Love the C. Dre, continue to get tick. Really like Dre and think the potential is through the roof. He's such an athlete as you saw him get to the rim a couple of times there, and he's got an edge that I don't want to say this team is lacking because I think there is an edge. I think Casper's has an edge. I think Trey White has an edge, but Dre is a bulldog. It's really tough and easy to root for, and I like the swag that he brings. That's the first half. Those two guys made all of us in our text threads or whoever you might have been watching the game with, look at each other and say, "Damn, what is going on? This is awesome." And you're up seven and a half. Okay, good spot to be in, you're leading on the road, but this is far from a sure thing. You feel good because Casper's was going to be ready to go for the second half, but I don't know. Was that lightning in a bottle? No, it was not. Your second half from Casper's was insane. All 16 of his points in the second half, six of 11 shooting, six boards, six assists. Not sure if he had any of those in the first half. I mean, his time was limited out there. He did all that in 22 minutes total, 22 minutes total. 22 turnovers as well. Trey White is fast becoming one of my favorites. The quietest 20 and 11 that I can remember seeing. The quietest on 8 of 11 shooting, his nose for the ball and the offensive rebounds he was getting. Just a super instinctive player, four assists, one turnover, 29 minutes. You have the second most minutes on the team. Kylan struggling at the rim to be sure, but four for five from three and a special shout out to Jeremy for this because during the game, I remember these threes felt big at the time, but I did not realize the kind of run Oregon was on. Oregon was on a 17 or 12 the one run and we're getting a closer to a single digit Illinois lead. The Kylan in two straight possessions hit two threes, just stone cold. To put you back up, I want to say 17 points. Basically, it was right at that moment where if Oregon was to make a run, they would have started right then and there and he poured cold water on that with those two big threes, four for five again from long range, that's encouraging, four assists, only two turnovers and 31 minutes. Just a really good game from him. Even such eight and eight, not quite a double double, but very efficient as well. Ben Hamrick house got to talk about him, right? I think we all saw the depths of which he was in that that was a bad slump that was so bad. It was hard not to worry. Was this a miss? He was not great in the first half yesterday. There were signs, like the defense was a little bit more disruptive. I thought there were a couple of times where he was late getting out on a shooter and that kind of bothered me, but I didn't know if that was a rotation thing or specifically his guy, 18 points, seven of 11 from the field, four for seven from three. That means three of those field goals were by the rim, including that monster dunk, showing off some moves, getting to the basket where it's like, man, why were we not maybe trying to draw up one or two of those to kind of get them going the same way you would a quarterback in some easy five-yard crossing routes, just get the confidence going or something, but after all of that, after a Chicago State game where he only got three points and I thought, my God, dude, if you can't get more than three in Chicago State, what are you even doing here? Then he does this on the road against the top 10 team. If he is to become a consistent offensive player on this team, and it doesn't need to be 18, but somewhere around like eight points a game, literally that's it, two threes and a bucket around the rim, isn't that reasonable? That's still less than probably what they thought he was going to do coming in, but if he were to somehow find consistency with that, knowing that there's the ability to go off for an 18 points, that would be really huge, 27 minutes. If you would have told me before that game, the Bentham Breakouts was playing 27 minutes, I would have said, oh, my God, why? Well, it was a really productive 27 minutes yesterday. Quiet games from Morez, four points and 15 minutes, he had four fouls, three boards, trying to think if there's anyone else I haven't really got, oh, Will Riley, still not quite there, he's had a bad month, he has, maybe a month plus, because it really feels like November was the last time that you had Will playing at a high level. He was good in the Tennessee game because he attacked the rim, got to the free throw line, I really like that from him, but yesterday those points came late. He's just, he's going through it right now, and you did all this with a five-star freshman basically being a non-factor. You did all this with Kaspara Siakachonas not playing much in the first half, and he won by 32 on the road, absolutely bananas. So there you go, I mean, Oregon's stats, they look fine offensively, but you see 77 points, I mean, I think that was a dominant defensive effort, the pace of that game and how many possessions there were, holding them to 77 is great defense, and their inability to score around the rim is something that a lot of teams have had against Illinois this year. We are very disruptive around the rim. That was not the case last year, I mean, it was only because of that offensive felt like we're last year's team was able to go on that run in March. The defense showed up against Iowa State for sure, but no, it was all offense last year. This is why this team to me is really, really intriguing because they're balanced. I didn't think that. I think Jeremy said on last night's podcast with Derek, he was anticipating a defense in the 70s or something like that, which is not good, but would be serviceable if the offense is what you thought it would be. Well, it turns out you have a top 10 Ken Palm defense, I think seventh, your offense is up to around 12. You have to number nine on Ken Palm, you're number five in the net rankings. In one game, you vaulted yourself from essentially top 20 ish to certifiable top 10, and again, it wasn't just that you won, it was that you did someone such dominating fashion where people can't help but look at that and say, whoa, I guess we should pay attention to these guys. So what a night in Eugene, just really kind of hard to wrap your head around just how dominating that was, and it was almost surreal to watch that second half unfold. Again, the thought I was not going to make it through the whole game, but how can you fall asleep when you're watching that? And it was on my phone and the guys were this big, but you could see enough and I do remember distinctly. Kyle and his two threes felt big, and then after that, the floodgates opened up even more than what they had before, then you have 20. Oh my God, we're up 25, 30, it just, it was unbelievable. So I'm not going to sit here and predict that, aha, this is it, we're going to be national champions this year. But here's the thing, you would never be able to do that anyway, because crapshoot nature of March madness. This is why this team though is a threat. They are very balanced. They have great guard play. I mean, think about this. Who would you trade as far as a three guard tandem? Who would you trade for Casperas, Kylan, and Trey White? And yeah, Trey, borderline wing, but man, he can handle it too. He can shoot some threes. He's a Johnny. Do it all. Is that even a term? What am I talking about? I don't, I don't know where that came from. He can do it all. Let's lead me to that. A Swiss army knife, if you will. Those three guys is your back court. Not many I trade them for. Then you got Drake gives law horn is your fourth guard off the bench. You want to throw a little Riley in there who is more of a wing, but kind of like Trey White, he could be a three, a third guard and a three guard lineup. Okay. So that's what you got there. Your back court, Eva Sitch is as consistent as they come. If not super flashy, if he shoots a three, I feel like it's going in. If he's around there to get a rebound, he's going to grab it. He's steady. And you need that from a front court guy. Morez, his first off night in a while, but a good piece to have, a good defender, great rebounder. So that takes you back to the wild card. Then I'm Rick House. If this game was a launching off point for Bentham Rick House, things change for this team. They would be very difficult to beat. If Illinois starts getting the Bentham Rick House that they thought they were going to get, there's a reason why he was named checked as much as anybody in this off season. And when you're six nine and you can be a dead eye shooter, it's understandable why you were a hot commodity in the transfer portal doesn't need to be a team. But if he can get you eight to 10 points a night and not go on extended shooting slumps and just not kill you defensively, which I don't think he did yesterday. Look out because now one through five, you feel really good about each of them. And then you got Casperous. I mean, you have a special player, a top 10, potential top five, NBA draft pick. And the passes yesterday from the behind the or underneath the wigs to hum Rick House or this ridiculous turnaround kind of behind the head past him or as Johnson that you almost have to watch in slow motion to even really understand what the heck he was doing. I texted my buddy Andrew who went to bragging rights with me and you know, we love talking on a basketball and I said, there is a non zero chance that KJ is that kind of talent that can pull a Carmelo. I know that is comparing him to one of the best individual NCAA performances ever. But KJ is a special talent. I would not hold the past him, especially as much as he likes the bright lights and he wants the ball in the big moments. I would not hold the past him come March where any of those games are on the line of the tournament. He goes out there and does something spectacular. I don't know the last time, if ever, I've seen just that level of talent in an Alana basketball player, probably Darren Williams in terms of just how polished he is at everything he does, but that was really late sophomore year Darren Williams and his junior season when he was an all American. Casperous is, I don't know, some guys are just born to play ball and he's one of them. It's just a pleasure to watch him. I have so much fun every time he's got the ball in his hands because I don't know what the hell he's going to do next. I mean, Andre Crabello had that, but we're starting to see KJ reign it in a little bit. Turn the ball over a little bit less. Play within himself. I would imagine the game is slowing down last night and that's second half against Oregon. That was his best half of the season and he's had a lot of good halves and he helps you put that game away because he's just that damn good. I mean, at a certain point, you could analyze him all you want to, but it's just that dude can ball. And when you have fellow teammates, it has like Colin Boswell after the Missouri game saying he's just that dude in so many words is what he said and Colin's pretty good too. But he recognizes that this is a different level. What is the saying game recognize game recognizes game or something like that? These guys know they know KJ isn't one and done because he's just uber talented. So without believing the point, we're going to be able to talk about him all year, but I also don't want to get to the end of the year and feel like I didn't talk enough about just how good Cass Perciacochonas is. I just love watching him play basketball. It will be so cool to see him in the NBA. It will be your highest draft pick. This is Darren Williams, for sure. And I think he will be a very successful pro. He's got all the tools they look for in the NBA and he'll be one of ours. Yeah, just one year, but there's a chance as we're only sitting here on January 3rd, that he does something that leaves a very indelible imprint on this program's history. So fingers crossed, that's what happens. Last night was one of those eye opening moments where those lofty things all of a sudden seem possible in a way that they maybe didn't a week or two ago. And that's a good place to be as the calendar turns to 2025. All right, let's see if I got anything else in the chat thread here. First and happy new year to you as well. And thank you guys in the chat thread for popping in on this Friday, just around lunch time a little bit after. So Sunday we will be back for a podcast during the second half of the Illinois Washington game. Hopefully just take care of business. Washington does beat Maryland. I actually like that they did, got hopefully that upset out of their system before we get there. And then it also hopefully legitimizes Washington in our eyes, but I'm not really worried about this team's mindset. I feel like they carry themselves very much like a professional team. And we'll go in just business trip, just take care of business. And that should be enough against Washington, Maryland. Did seem susceptible for a stinker as good as they can be. I do not buy Kevin Willard when it comes to big games. I don't buy the maturity of that team. In fact, I would imagine if it's anything like Julian Reese, who is just kind of an airhead, they will have some boneheaded losses throughout the year. It's just when they're on, they're very tough. They weren't last night in Washington got a big win, but there's still not a good team. Get it done. Move on to know the West Coast road trip. And then you're done with West Coast games long before most other big 10 teams. That is a coup. So yeah, what a world citrus bowl champs soon to be top 10 basketball team. I don't know about that. I would imagine Illinois vaults to like 12 or 13, but I mean, that's significant to jump up eight, nine, 10 spots. And I would imagine they do. All right. Before I get out of here, got to remind you Hamilton Walkers is downtown champagne. Steak seafood and spirits. If you're looking for a pregame meal, a nice date night out with your significant other stopped by Hamilton Walkers in downtown champagne. Also stay for our major Brian Hanson online at Brian is my guy.com dog town heating Aaron plumbing, your home's best friend, give them a call at 217-841-4728. And finally, Owen Builders LLC.com work with Luke and his excellent staff for your next home project at Owen Builders LLC.com. Thank you, YouTube. Thank you. Champagne showers podcast network. Remember the Alani the Alani book, what am I talking about the 200 level in Illinois fighting a lot of asphalt fans journey available? Treat yourself to a little post Christmas gift. You've earned it. Use that money that grandma and grandpappy sent you to buy this book on Amazon or locally a game day spirit or Jane Adams bookstore. All right, everybody. We'll see you on Sunday. Stay warm. Get those snow shovels ready. And we'll talk during the second half of the Illinois Washington game. It is the 200 level. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] (upbeat music) (upbeat music)