There are six Big Ten teams inthe latest national rankings, but 7-1 Illinois hasn’t even cracked the “also receiving votes” section. The Illini’sschedule hasn’t exactly been a murderer’s row of teams with Alabama State, Jacksonville State and Chicago State, and Illinois’one game against a major-conference team was a loss Tuesdayagainst Georgia Tech. The Illini get a chance to prove themselvesagain against SEC foe Auburn inAtlanta on Sunday.
The Tigers have a littlesomething to prove as well, coming off a drubbing bynationally ranked Iowa State. Coach Tony Barbee was worried about histeam’s toughness heading into the game with the Cyclones, and theloss didn’t help his mindset. Barbee is hoping that nearly a week offbrings out the battle in his squad against a team that ranks third inthe Big Ten in rebounding.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, ESPN3
ABOUT ILLINOIS (7-1): Illinicoach John Groce was not happy with the way his team executed in thefinal minutes of the 67-64 loss to Georgia Tech. A 12-point lead with lessthan seven minutes to play faded away as Illinois had a verydifficult time down the stretch. â??I thought our execution wasabsolutely pathetic,â? Groce told the Champaign News-Gazette. â??Ithought it was awful. Bad passing, bad catching, not a toughnessabout us to execute what we needed to execute.â?
ABOUT AUBURN (4-2): Barbee also wasn’t happy with his team’s offense in the loss to IowaState, mostly because of the way his team allowed itself to get downon defense because shots weren’t falling. Barbee wants the defensiveeffort to be high for his team no matter what is happening on theother end of the court. â??It’s not what you do on offense. It’s whatyou do on defense that wins games,â? Barbee said. â??We let ourinability to make shots and inability to make open 3-pointers affectwhat we did on defense.â?
TIP-INS
1. Transfer Rayvonte Rice is thefirst Illinois newcomer to score in double figures in his first eightgames since Kiwane Garris did as a freshman in 1993-94.
2. Auburn’s starters areaveraging 62 points or 79 percent of the team’s average of 78.2 points thisseason.
3. The Illini are 20-2 inregular-season non-conference games under Groce, with the second suchloss coming in the team’s last game.
PREDICTION: Illinois 76, Auburn74
