Illinois Basketball

No. 8 seed Loyola of Chicago (25-4) vs. No. 1 seed Illinois (24-6) NCAA Tournament Second Round, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis; Sunday, 11:10 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: A trip to the Sweet 16 is up for grabs as Loyola of Chicago is set to face off against an in-state rival in Illinois. Illinois earned a 78-49 win over Drexel in…

Playing in their first NCAA Tournament game in eight years, the Illinois Fighting Illini came out flying, knocking off the Drexel Dragons in a 78-49 romp. Ayo Dosunmu, playing in his first NCAA Tournament game, exploded in the second half, as he finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals in an excellent all-around effort. Kofi Cockburn…

A state sports gambling law is making it difficult, but not impossible, for Illinois residents to bet on the University of Illinois or Chicago’s Loyola University when March Madness kicks off this week

It wasn’t easy, but the Illinois Fighting Illini captured the Big Ten Conference championship on Sunday afternoon with an 91-88 overtime win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in Indianapolis. Six Illini players reached double-figures in scoring, with Kofi Cockburn, Andre Curbelo and Ayo Dosunmu each scoring 16 points to clinch the title, and a number one seed in the NCAA…

Ohio State is set to match up against Illinois in the Championship of the Big Ten tourney

Illinois center Kofi Cockburn learned some hard lessons dueling with Luka Garza as a freshman. On Saturday, he stood up to Iowa’s career scoring leader — and won. Cockburn scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, fought through foul trouble in the second half and challenged Garza physically while leading No. 3 Illinois past No. 5 Iowa…

Illinois took another step towardlocking up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday with a dominant win over No. 2 Michigan.

From pregame warmup drills though the pickup-game vibe of the second half, the Illinois players kept filling Minnesota’s mostly empty arena with chants and cheers.

Is Illinois, Michigan or Ohio State worthy of a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance?

The Land of Lincoln is bringing it in college hoops.

Kofi Cockburn scored 23 points, Ayo Dosunmu added 21 and No. 12 Illinois beat No. 19 Wisconsin 75-60 on Saturday in a key Big Ten Conference matchup.

E.J. Liddell scored 26 points and No. 21 Ohio State beat No. 14 Illinois 87-81 in a brutal Big Ten matchup on Saturday.

Ayo Dosunmu scored 22 points, freshman Andres Curbelo added 18 and No. 8 Illinois beat Chicago State 97-38

Ayo Dosunmu scored a career-high 28 points, freshman Adam Miller also scored 28 and No. 8 Illinois beat North Carolina A&T 122-60 in the season opener for both teams

Seniors Luka Garza of Iowa and Baylor’s Jared Butler headline The Associated Press preseason All-America team