WSU VS. ILLINOIS STATE PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSIONS

[ShockerPrez]

Hopefully the ISUr faithful will be as riveted as when CU visited them.

And when I say riveted, I mean asleep.

[ShockerGorilla]

If things get ugly again like in St. Louis, Wilkins deserves a subtle-- or maybe not-so-subtle-- knee to the crotch. That was crazy how Stutz was the one who got the technical during that exchange last year.

Shox 80
Redbirds 76

[im4wsu]

Comparative Stats from StatSheet.com - Illinois State

Fairly even offensive stats, but our defense will win the game.

[1972Shocker]

I'm counting on Cle and Nick to step up in this one and help put the Shocks over the top.

[Slalomshocker]

On the road at the hottest team in the league which happens to also be very talented....doesn't look good. Add in that I am not sold that beating 2 of the worst teams in the league at Koch means the Shox are cured of all ills and I don't see this ending as desired. I do think the Shox go 2-2 worst case down the stretch though.

WSU- 67
ISUr- 74

[ShockerGorilla]

I just saw that this is going to be a "red out" game. It seems like just about every away game is some color - "out" for us. Everyone loves it when we come to town.

[Phantom]

What's up Shox pals? What a difference a month makes! The crazy Valley is extra crazy this year for sure. If, after our abysmal 0-6 start you would've said we'd turn the tables and jump back into the race most of us would've said you're nuts. But alas, here we are and this is a huge game. Wouldn't have it any other way with our teams though!

Interestingly enough, the turnaround can be traced back to the 2nd half in our first meeting at your place. We were pretty much buried but kept fighting and made a pretty good showing by the end. Since then, we've won 7 of 8. We will definitely have to be on our "A" game Sunday night to take this one. It should be a sizeable, energized crowd at Redbird Arena and we're gonna need them. It's always difficult to predict games in this league, but especially when our teams get together. No doubt we've pulled a 180 since our first meeting but this will be a big acid test for us.

Once again, the stage is set for a classic Redbirds/Shockers matchup. Here's to another hardfought, clean, respectful game!

[KC Shox]

I won't be surprised if we win and I wouldn't be surprised if we lost.

[molly jabali]

In the best game of the year so far...Shockers 75, Redbirds 73.

Refresh, since I could not go last year...how were their fans bad in St.Louis...incidents?

[GOSHOX1]

We had a dad (50's) son ( early teens) in front of us last that were the worst fans I have ever been around! They were turning around and cheering in our face with everything, talking **** the whole game. I have never wanted to beat someone's ass so bad at a game before. The dad just let's the son talk **** like it was the way to act, it was unbelievable, anytime we said something they had a comeback and we weren't even talking to them. It was bush league! F em

[12eagle]

Sat right next to the ill state section last year in st Louis. They were very passionate but after the game numerous fans stopped us and said that we had a great team and thought they were lucky to win. Thought on a whole ill state fans were great

[WstateU]

We had a dad (50's) son ( early teens) in front of us last that were the worst fans I have ever been around! They were turning around and cheering in our face with everything, talking **** the whole game. I have never wanted to beat someone's ass so bad at a game before. The dad just let's the son talk **** like it was the way to act, it was unbelievable, anytime we said something they had a comeback and we weren't even talking to them. It was bush league! F em

[Dan]

Fun (or not) fact using cherry-picked stats.

W/L records over the last 8 games:

IlSU 7-1
UNI 6-2
WSU 5-3
InSU 5-3
UE 3-5
BU 3-5
MSU 3-5
CU 3-5
DU 3-5
SIU 2-6

I know a lot of those don't affect the IlSU game, but after I saw CU's record, I wanted to see how that stacked up.

IlSU is on fire right now, and the bottom 2/3 of the league is lining up to take down the top teams. I don't have the patience to research stats and box scores to see what IlSU is doing to absolutely turn their season around, but right now, they're the most dangerous team in the conference.

I see that as a sign we're about to bust their streak. Averyone in the conference goes through streaks and we're about to start our 3rd game of our final winning streak. Road Warriors are back!

[garylee]

our big guys need to stop chasing the ball so far up high and stay in the paint. the last couple
games our opponents missed many opportunities when their C broke from up high to the
basket and we were late to defend. watch and see if better teams dont notice and back door
our post defenders chasing the ball out too high. other than that i am concerned about our team
chemistry which i think has been lacking the past five games or so, although, perimeter ball
movement HAS noticeably improved. just dont think we are hitting on all cylinders yet so i am
going with 69-66 ill st......also think CU will be up for us and win the valley. however, i
predict our chemistry comes together in st louis and we win the auto berth.

[another shocker]

wichita state would have had it tough there even if ilsu was still in their doldrums. but now they, ilsu, are on cloud nine and a half.

pick 'em