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Illinois Basketball: A familiar home, Illini crack top 5 in AP Top 25

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 12, 2021; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Adam Miller (44) and center Kofi Cockburn (behind Miller) and guard Da'Monte Williams (20) and guard Trent Frazier (1) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) huddle during a break in the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2021; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Adam Miller (44) and center Kofi Cockburn (behind Miller) and guard Da'Monte Williams (20) and guard Trent Frazier (1) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) huddle during a break in the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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It is a Monday tradition like no other. The Illinois basketball team finds themselves on the move in the AP Top 25 once again.

Coming into last week, two things were true. The first being Illinois didn’t have a game that week due to Michigan having a COVID-19 issue. The other truth was that Illinois was outside of the top 10. Both things changed last Monday.

The announcement that Illinois would play Nebraska happened on Monday. This game was scheduled for February 12 and was a make-up game from January 13. The other change was that the Illini moved up to No. 6 in the AP Top 25. This was a huge jump from No. 12 in the nation.

Well, after the game on Friday in which the Illini won over Nebraska, the Orange and Blue once again are moving up in the AP Top 25. In the new poll released on Monday, Illinois now sits at No. 5 in the nation, a one-spot jump. This is the second time this season where the Illini have landed in the top five, the other being on November 30.

Illinois saw the one-spot jump due to some losses in the national standings. Former No. 5 Villanova fell to Creighton this past week by 16 points. This enabled the Illini to make the jump. While their win wasn’t great over the Cornhuskers, it was still a win and a lot of teams around Illinois took a blow with a loss this past week.

No. 5 Villanova, No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 10 Missouri all were victims of defeat. That helped prevent the Illini from potentially getting jumped.

What is ahead for the Illinois basketball program?

We are finally getting back to some type of normal schedule. Illinois has two games this week. Northwestern is first up on Tuesday.

Illinois plays the Wildcats for the second time this season. If you don’t remember, Northwestern had a 15-point halftime lead in the first game only to let it slip away in an 81-56 defeat back on January 7. The Wildcats only made two shots in the second half.

The next game for the Illini is on the road against Minnesota. In the first game this season between the two teams, Illinois dominated in every facet of the game. The Illini would come away with the victory, 92-65, to start Big Ten play.

4 big statistics from the Illini win over Nebraska. dark. Next

Illinois has two games coming up this week that are both winnable. Let’s take care of business and extend this five-game winning streak into a seven-game winning streak. The regular-season Big Ten crown is still in sight.

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