Survive and advance – that’s the mantra for every team in March. Through one weekend, Illinois has done the latter, but not much of the former. After two blowout wins (beat Penn 105-70 and VCU 76-55), the Illini are off to the Sweet 16 to face No. 2 seed Houston. To prevail in that contest, though, Illinois will almost certainly be doing more surviving than thriving.
The Cougars are extremely well-coached – disciplined defensively, play with all-out effort and take care of the ball on offense – and demand a near-perfect performance from opponents to get knocked off…