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In 2019 Arizona and Illinois met out west for the first game in a home-and-home series. It didn’t go well for the Illini.
An overmatched Illinois team kept pace with Arizona for almost the first 30 minutes, trailing 52-53 with 12 minutes to go. The Wildcats then went on a 15-0 run and closed the game with a 37-17 throttling of the Illini.
The two teams were set for a rematch this year with the Illini set to host the Wildcats this time around, but unfortunately the rematch is being shelved until next season.
Arizona and Illinois will delay the return game of their home-and-home series in Champaign until the 21-22 season, per release.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 2, 2020
The game, which was originally set for December, will be played next year due to Covid-19. That was more or less inevitable with Arizona planning to play all non-conference games at home as a means to reduce Covid-19 exposure and reduce travel costs. Arizona had already announced that they will not participate in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Related: Arizona, which backed out of playing in Orlando’s preseason NIT, plans to play all of its noncon games at home this season, including an MTE over T’giving weekend, per sources. I’d anticipate the majority, if not all, its opponents to be from mid-major leagues out West.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 2, 2020
As of now the official schedule for the upcoming season still hasn’t been revealed, but it is expected that Illinois will start the season some time around Thanksgiving.