On Thanksgiving Day, Illinois cruised to a 90-77 statement win over No. 19 Arkansas – and now everyone is talking turkey about the 6-1 Illini.
Behind excellent 3-point shooting (15-for-31), led by Tomislav Ivisic’s six threes, the Illini jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead and never looked back, holding on to that lead the rest of the way.
After last week falling 100-87 to No. 9 Alabama (which just took down No. 6 Houston and Rutgers), Illinois fell out of the AP Top 25 poll. And with each of its wins having come against mid-major competition, the Illini needed a win over a significant opponent to re-enter top-25 discussions. Hello, Razorbacks.
In the process of bagging an important victory, the Illini and center Tomislav Ivisic drew some praise from leading college basketball observers across the country, beginning with analyst Dick Vitale, who enjoyed the showdown between Ivisic and his twin brother:
Family time is special on Thanksgiving but it was an intense battle btw twin brothers The IVISIC ‘s as @IlliniMBB faced @RazorbackMBB The Illini beat the Razorbacks 90 -77 & Illini T IVISIC set the tone with 21 pts & 10 rebounds vs his brother Big Z who scored 13 .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) November 29, 2024
Jeff Goodman, the co-founder of Field of 68, chimed in about Illinois’ international talent and shouted out Illini guard Kylan Boswell for his versatility:
The international talent in college this season has been really impressive – NIL obviously helped a ton.
Illinois got two really good ones in Tomislav Ivisic and Kasparas Jakucionis.
The duo just combined for 44 points, 15 boards and 6 assists in an easy win over Arkansas.…
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 28, 2024
Additionally, CBS’ Jon Rothstein couldn’t help but tweet his go-to Illini tagline, which he followed up with a warning for the Big Ten:
Traditional Big Ten big men are not going to be able to guard Tomislav Ivisic.
Insane pick-and-pop ability.
Illinois has ridiculous offensive spacing.
And ridiculous long-term upside. https://t.co/TbWRr9Sjdo
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 28, 2024
ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla chimed in as well, taking to social media to compliment coach Brad Underwood’s direction and the toughness of the Illini:
Loved watching @IlliniMBB today. That is a talented young team. Brad Underwood is in the same league as Self, Sampson, Izzo, Otzelberger, Barnes, Pearl, etc. when it comes to coaching toughness. Nothing BS about the Illini program. @bigten pic.twitter.com/00Bwqr4teA
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) November 29, 2024
With its Turkey Day performance, Illinois obviously caught the attention of a who’s who of college basketball analysts. And if the rest of the country isn’t already minding the Illini, they’ll soon get to know them better – when they re-enter the Top 25 and start introducing themselves to the Big Ten starting next week.
