CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 2: Kasparas Jakucionis #32 of the Illinois Fighting Illini shoots the ball during the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at State Farm Center on February 2, 2025 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Illinois won’t have to travel far for their first-round NCAA tournament game, as they’ll head to Milwaukee for that contest.
The Illini earned the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region in the men’s basketball tournament, and will play the winner of a Wednesday play-in game between Texas and Xavier.
The winner of that Wednesday game will take on Illinois on Friday at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, with game time yet to be announced. If the Illini were to advance, it could set up a showdown with No. 3 seed Kentucky, who is playing Troy in the first round of the tournament.
Illinois had an up-and-down season in Big Ten play, finishing the year with a 12-8 conference record and a 21-12 record overall. They won their last three regular season games, including a road game against Michigan and a home game against Purdue, but lost to Maryland in the Big Ten quarterfinals on Friday in Indianapolis.
Kasparas Jakucionis led the Illini in averaging 15 points a game, with Will Riley, Tomislav Ivisic, Kylan boswell and Tre White also averaging more than 10 points per game.
Ivisic led the Illini with 7.7 rebounds per game, and Jakucionis had 4.6 assists per game.
Houston earned the top seed in the Midwest Region, with Tennessee earning the No. 2 seed. Illinois’ Big Ten rival Purdue got the No. 4 seed in the region, and will face High Point on Thursday.
Chicago Sports
If Illinois can somehow get through the first two rounds, their Sweet 16 game wouldn’t be far from Champaign either, as the Midwest Region will take place at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
Auburn earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament despite losing three of their last four games, with Florida and Duke earning the other top seeds in the tournament’s bracket.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
Michigan, who won the Big Ten tournament on Sunday, earned a No. 5 seed in the South Region. Their in-state rival Michigan State landed the No. 2 seed in that region.
Wisconsin earned a No. 3 seed in the East Region, and they’ll face Montana on Thursday.
