Illinois Basketball Announces Watch Party for Sweet 16!

Originally posted on Armchair Illini | By Alex Kyi | Last updated 3/26/24

Illinois Basketball Announces Watch Party for Sweet 16!

It’s a great time to be an Illini! Illinois Basketball and the social media team have just announced some exciting news. On March 28th, The State Farm Center in Champaign will host a live-watch party for both Illinois Basketball program’s postseason games. The Ladies’ basketball team will play their WBIT quarterfinals vs Tulsa at 6:30 pm CST. Following that, the men’s basketball team will play their Sweet 16 game vs Iowa State at approximately 9:09 pm. Activities will be available during halftime and in between games so that fans can win some prizes.

Sounds like an incredible event for the University of Illinois and it is good to see the Athletic department holding big events like this when teams have postseason success. As a 2017 alum, this kind of success was rare, hence it is just really cool to see the University start to look and feel like an actual Big Ten program.

Not making the trip to see @illiniwbb and @illinimbb on the road? We've got you covered.

Join us for food, fun, and of course, more basketball at a doubleheader watch party at @statefarmcenter on Thursday!#Illini | #HTTO pic.twitter.com/qDMn9UypLl

— Illinois Athletics (@IlliniAthletics) March 26, 2024

A Rock Fight on Thursday Night

TJ Otzelberger has the Iowa State Cyclones absolutely humming. The Cyclones just won the Big 12 tournament with a resounding win over the one-seed Houston Cougars. They honestly probably could have been a one-seed in this NCAA tournament, however, their weak non-conference schedule prevented that. Illinois will play a sturdy, tough-nosed defense, much like the Houston team they played in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

With a few days to prepare, look for the Cyclones to really focus on making this a half-court game centered around locking down Marcus Domask. Regardless, Brad Underwood deserves a ton of credit for the run he is putting together. Let’s hope that is only the beginning. The Illini Basketball Podcast recapped the Duquesne game and previewed the matchup.

Ethan was able to give a strong scouting report of the Iowa State starting lineup and how the analytic rankings go out the window in a game like this.