The state of Illinois finally ended its shutout streak in the NCAA Tournament with Northwestern going dancing. Aside from that? It was a somewhat disappointing year. UIC reached the CBI semifinals and Illinois made the NIT quarterfinals, but the state had a legitimate chance to send…
Illinois has fired coach John Groce, the school announced Saturday. After making a late-season push, Illinois lost its final two games, and with it a chance at making the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Illini will miss the Big Dance for the fourth straight year with…
Illinois guard Kendrick Nunn was arrested Thursday on a charge of domestic battery, the News-Gazette reported. Reports said Nunn allegedly struck a woman in her apartment Wednesday evening and turned himself in. Nunn, a 6-foot-3 junior and Chicago native, averaged 15.5 points and shot 39.1 percent…
John Groce will return as Illinois’ head coach next season, athletics director Josh Whitman announced Saturday. The Illini have not made the NCAA Tournament since the 2012-13 season, Groce’s first year with the program. They will likely miss the Big Dance for the third straight…
1. Southern Illinois (16-3, 5-1 MVC). Last week: 3 Southern Illinois takes over the No. 1 spot after defeating Illinois State and Drake last week. The Salukis are tied for second place in the Missouri Valley, and their only loss is to Wichita State. …
1. Northwestern (12-1). Last week: 1 Northwestern enters Big Ten play on a nine-game winning streak after defeating Sacred Heart and Loyola (Maryland) last week. 2. Southern Illinois (11-2). Last week: 2 Southern Illinois has played an easy schedule, but from a winning percentage…
2015 is winding down, and it was an interesting year for Chicago basketball. Two programs reached their conference tournament semifinals, two programs experienced coaching changes and one program (Northwestern) is now receiving AP Top 25 votes. The Catch and Shoot has chosen its Top 10…
1. Northwestern (10-1). Last week: 1 Northwestern survived at DePaul in overtime to extend its winning streak to seven games. The Wildcats have a 94 percent chance of winning each of their final non-conference games against Sacred Heart and Loyola Maryland, per KenPom. 2.…
Every week The Catch and Shoot will name a Player of the Week, Freshman of the Week, Team of the Week and Game of the Week from the five Division I schools in the Chicago area. Here are the winners for the fourth week of the…
CHICAGO — UIC was fortunate to be within 11 points at halftime Saturday against Illinois. The Flames had shot just 37 percent from the field and turned the ball over nine times in the opening 20 minutes. The offense consisted mainly of chucking the ball at…
