March Madness: 3 reasons Illinois fans should be (maybe a bit?) worried about Morehead State

Michael Conroy/AP Photos

OMAHA, Neb. — Illinois has lost an NCAA Tournament first-round game as a No. 3 seed facing a No. 14 seed before. It was in 1987, a 68-67 debacle against Austin Peay that still stings fans who remember it.

In 1997, the sixth-seeded Illini lost a second-round game to 14th-seeded Tennessee-Chattanooga. That was no picnic.

So what about this opening game against 14 seed Morehead State (26-8) — Ohio Valley regular-season and tournament champions — on Thursday? Should you be worried?

Short answer: Be terrified!

No, not really. But it’s not wild and crazy to think that Morehead State might have a chance. Three reasons for that:

1. The Eagles are old: Their starting lineup consists of four graduate students and one senior.

“We’ve played basketball a long time,” top scorer Riley Minix said, “and we know how to play.”

A team this is experienced can be expected to keep its composure and not be intimidated.

“This group is not afraid of anything,” coach Preston Spradlin said.

2. They’re very good at what they’re good at: The Eagles rank fifth in the country in field-goal percentage defense, allowing makes on only 38.9% of shots. On three-pointers, it goes way down to a puny 29.6%.

At the other end, they can shoot the heck out of it; they’ve made a school-record 318 threes, 103 of them by Kalil Thomas.

They like to slow the pace — not what Illinois wants — and they have the OVC player of the year in Minix. Only two players in the country made more baskets than he did.

3. They probably should have won at Indiana: They were blown out at Purdue (87-57) and at Penn State (74-51) early in the season, but right before Christmas they held a 15-point second-half lead at Indiana only to lose 69-68. That score should at least get your attention.

“We really wanted to win the Big Ten South division title in those three games, but we didn’t get it done,” Spradlin joked. “But [now] we get another chance to.”