The Grind

Photo Courtesy of University of Illinois Sports Communications

Let me start by telling you what I WANTED the headline to be for this post-game article. I desperately wanted Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic to combine for 25 points/20 rebounds/5 blocks so that this article from the famed Palestra in Philadelphia would be titled “Brotherly Love”. Big Z did his part, but Tomi not so much - more on that later.

No worries, I had a back up plan. After we jumped out to a workmanlike but solid 40-26 lead at half time, I was looking forward to a Bragging Rights style second half in which Illinois would roll to an easy 20-25 point win over the 17th worst team in the Big Ten (per KenPom) and I could title this post “phILLy Special”. Seriously, this is where my brain goes at halftime - thinking about post-game article titles and taking pictures of on-court stickers reminding Ivy League students to not leave their keys in the car.