The Illinois basketball team advanced to the Elite 8 on Thursday night, and that is always tough regardless of the competition.
I was always afraid of Houston. The Cougars were one of the best teams in the country, but the Illini took them head-on and dominated. What is even crazier is the fact that we had to do this on the road.
No, it wasn’t just one of those road games in the NCAA tournament that is randomly played in Spokane. This game against the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars was played in Houston. This was in their backyard, and it was roughly 90% Houston fans at the game.
This was a huge storyline entering the contest, and honestly, it was probably going to be one of the excuses I was going to use in my head to justify losing the game. Illinois didn’t care, though. We didn’t let the location affect our performance. In fact, after the game, both Keaton Wagler and Andrej Stojakovic made it clear that this was not a factor at all.
“We weren’t worried about the fans,” said Wagler, “we have played in tough environments before, on the road. Many, many times.”
While that can be tabbed as a naïve freshman going full steam ahead, the same sentiment was shared by his teammate and veteran, Stojakovic.
“We weren’t worried about how close their campus is or if we were playing in their city,” Stojakovic said, “we knew they were going to show up like they have been all year long. That was the least of our worries, to be honest.”
These two are right on the money. The road doesn’t matter to Illinois. In fact, the team actually has a better winning percentage in true road games this season compared to non-road games.
Illinois is 8-2, 80%, in true road games. That means we are now 19-6 in all of the other games, which is a 76% winning percentage.
Keaton Wagler and Andrej Stojakovic have been road dogs this season with some big Illinois basketball performances
Just the performance in the Sweet 16 should be enough for Wagler and his abilities, but he has had some massive road performances this season, too.
On the road against No. 5 Nebraska, he had 28 points. He dropped that 46-spot against Purdue in West Lafayette. He also knocked down 19 points against Iowa on the road, which is the team he gets next to see who goes to the Final 4.
Stojakovic dropping 13 points against Houston off the bench was huge for Illinois. He has also had some big road games. Stojakovic had 22 points in a blowout win over USC. He ended with 17 points in the road win over Iowa. He also had 17 points in a narrow win over Ohio State on the road.
Winning in the comfort of home is always going to be easier. Illinois having road dogs like Wagler and Stojakovic is what has helped us to the Elite 8, and will hopefully help us get over the hump and hoist that national championship trophy.