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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area
From left, Genesis Bryant, Shauna Green and Kendall Bostic enjoy a moment when Bryant and Bostic were recognized for having 1,000 career points before Green’s Illinois women’s basketball team played Iowa on Jan. 7 at State Farm Center in Champaign.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. The bar was low when Shauna Green arrived to become the Illinois women’s basketball coach in March 2022. She continues to raise it, though, each season.
➜ 2. Case in point: If Illinois (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) can beat No. 22 Michigan State (14-3, 4-2) on Sunday afternoon at State Farm Center in Champaign, Green will become the first Illinois coach to win at least 14 games in her first three seasons.
➜ 3. Sure, it’s not a lot. But it’s never happened before. The closest was Theresa Grentz, who had 19 wins in four of her first five seasons from 1996-2000, but only went 13-15 in her first year, and Laura Golden. Golden had back-to-back seasons of at least 19 wins from 1985-87, but her first team went 13-15.
From left, Tre White, Tomislav Ivisic, Will Riley and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn have played prominent roles in helping the Illinois men’s basketball team have a prolific offense this season.
Numbers game: 5
Illinois men’s basketball players averaging double figures going into Sunday’s game at Michigan State. Kasparas Jakucionis leads the way at 16.7 points, good for 12th in the Big Ten, while Tomislav Ivisic (13.0), Kylan Boswell (11.8), Tre White (10.9) and Will Riley (10.5) help bolster the country’s fifth-highest scoring offense. Ben Humrichous isn’t far behind in joining this group as he averages 9.2 points.
Among Tom Izzo’s feats: He’s the only active Big Ten coach who’s already been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/TNS).
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. No. 19 Illinois at No. 12 Michigan State men’s basketball. Don’t know if the Illini are like the Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers, like Tom Izzo joked earlier this week, but Sunday’s 11 a.m. game from the Breslin Center could deliver an intense, competitive, memorable Big Ten game that will be broadcast nationally on CBS.
➜ 2. Nebraska at Maryland men’s basketball. Flip over to BTN when the Illinois-Michigan State game is on commercial break Sunday morning and get a peek at Maryland, which visits State Farm Center for an 8 p.m. tip next Thursday.
➜ 3. No. 17 Purdue at No. 13 Oregon men’s basketball. This Saturday afternoon game on NBC will have AP Top 25 implications that should affect the Illini’s ranking next week.
First-year Cissna Park baseball coach Jeffrey Maurer.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with first-year Cissna Park baseball coach Jeffrey Maurer:
âžœ 1. My favorite sports team is … the St. Louis Cardinals.
âžœ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Jay Wright, Phil Jackson and Mike Krzyzewski.
âžœ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … someone riding in your blind spot when you are driving.