PROHMBALL V: Iowa State vs. Illinois Game Thread

Game Info

The Opponent: Illinois Fighting Illini (3-3, 0-0)

Tip: Saturday, 6 p.m. CST - The Arena at Northwest FL St - Niceville, Florida

TV/Webcast: CBS Sports Net (Brad Johansen, PxP; Doug Gottlieb, Color)

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network (John Walters, PxP; Eric Heft, Color)

Illinois SB Nation Site: The Champaign Room

What to Know

Recap: Iowa State Offense Smokies the Hokies - The Cyclones put on an offensive clinic yesterday night against the Virginia Tech Hokies, coming away with a 99-77 win and improving their record to 4-0 on the season.

We're Talking Illinois - The Illini have had a few bad losses to begin the season, but they were mainly due to playing with a roster that wasn't at full strength.

Game Preview: Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 4 Iowa State Cyclones - The Champaign Room previews tonight's matchup, and predicts a close game with Iowa State coming out on top.

Iowa St.-Illinois Preview - ESPN notes that ISU shot poorly from 3-point range in their first two games, but has heated up in their last two matchups.

Prediction

Even though the Cyclones looked fantastic on offense for about 90% of last night's game against Virginia Tech, there were stretches where ISU's rotation players looked a bit gassed. That makes me a bit worried for tonight's game against Illinois, as it's unlikely that Iowa State is going to shoot the ball quite as well with fatigued legs.

As cylentbutdeadly noted in his game preview, this Illini team is hard to predict since they have only just recently gotten their starters healthy. It's going to be a tough battle, but I think ISU's talent will be enough to slide past Illinois and come away as Emerald Coast Classic champs.

Iowa State 80, Illinois 70