Illinois wins second Big Ten Tournament Title in four years

Bret Beherns
·3 min read
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (WCIA) — Seniors Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask combined for 60 points in the Big Ten Tournament Final against Wisconsin to help Illinois on to its second tourney title in four years with a 93-87 win.

“It’s something you dream of,” sophomore Ty Rodgers said. “You always see it on TV, people you look up to.”

“Man it’s crazy, being able to come back home and win a championship,” Minnesota native Dain Dainja said.
“It felt great to finally be champ,” senior Quincy Guerrier said. “Everybody played so hard. The whole year we’ve been working for this moment.”

“You just get chills honestly, especially myself growing up in the Midwest, an Indiana boy, you know you grow up watching college basketball your whole life,” junior Luke Goode said. “Watching people cut down the nets and having the opportunity to be in those shoes is something people will always remember.”

The Badgers got out to a hot start in the second half, grabbing a 10 point lead a few minutes after coming out of the locker room. Former Illinois commit AJ Storr led the way 24 points while Chucky Hepburn went for 20, with 14 of his points coming in the second half.

Shannon and the Illini began cutting away at the lead, going on two separate 7-0 runs to retake the lead. Shannon scored 34 points one night after setting the Big Ten Tournament record with 40 against Nebraska in the semifinal. Domask had his best game in Minneapolis, scoring 26 points. The Illini were near perfect from the foul line in the second half, going 17-18 in the period.

This is Illinois’ fourth Big Ten Tournament Title. The Illini also won in 2003, 2005, and 2021.

“Just our fight, there were a lot of times that it would have been really easy to fold and pack it up and accept defeat but every timeout we had the same message,” Domask said. “We weren’t going home, we weren’t losing this game.”

“Tonight we got the best punch out of Wisconsin, they were playing some high-level basketball and we were able to come out victorious so I’m super proud of this group,” senior Coleman Hawkins said.

“It speaks volumes to the maturity of this group and we’re ready to make a run,” Rodgers said.

And that run starts Thursday in Omaha as the Illini earn the No. 3 seed in the East Region. Illinois will play No. 14 Morehead State in the First Round at 2:10 p.m. on TruTV.

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