Saturday, March 15th, 4:05 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Conseco Fieldhouse (18,345) -- Indianapolis, Indiana. Television: CBS. Home Record: Illinois 7-8, Minnesota 13-4. Away Record: Illinois 3-8, Minnesota 5-8. Neutral Record: Illinois 5-2, Minnesota 2-0. Conference Record: Illinois 5-13, Minnesota 8-10. Series Record: Illinois leads, 112-60.

GAME NOTES: Destroying the logic of the seedings in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, Illinois and Minnesota now find themselves in the semifinals of the 11th annual event and will collide on the floor of Conseco Fieldhouse this afternoon. The Fighting Illini were the long-shot in this tournament as the 10th seed, but that didn't stop the squad from dropping Penn State in the opening round on Thursday by a score of 64-63, and then surviving an overtime outing against nationally-ranked and second-seeded Purdue on Friday, 74-67. As for the Golden Gophers, the sixth seed in the tourney, they dismissed Northwestern in the first game by just three points (55-52), and then topped nationally-ranked and second-seeded Indiana yesterday by just a single point, 59-58. Illinois has already been in the finals five times, taking home the trophy twice, while Minnesota has yet to make it to the final game of the event. These two teams closed out the regular season against each other a week ago, with Illinois posting a 67-58 victory at home, which means the Illini now lead the all-time series by a count of 112-60. The winner of this meeting will face off against the survivor of the Michigan State/Wisconsin bout in the title game on Sunday.

Demetri McCamey forced overtime with his three-pointer with less than 20 seconds to play in regulation on Friday, then went on to hit a couple of baskets early in overtime to put the Illini ahead. McCamey finished with an impressive 26 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting behind the three-point line, adding seven rebounds and three assists for good measure. Shaun Pruitt tacked on 14 points and nine boards and Mike Davis 10 points off the bench as the team shot a sizzling 61.2 percent from the field. Primarily a bench player for much of the season, McCamey is known more for his 106 assists than he is 8.3 ppg on just 36.8 percent shooting from the floor. Pruitt and Trent Meachem are generally the go-to guys for Illinois, averaging 12.4 and 10.6 ppg, respectively, but now the Golden Gophers have to prepare for yet one more threat. Brian Randle can also be a force for the Illini with his 9.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg, but picking up countless and costly personal fouls doesn't help the cause.

Travis Busch threw the Hail Mary and Blake Hoffarber answered the call as he knocked down the game-winner from the left elbow at the buzzer in Minnesota's thrilling victory over 22nd-ranked Indiana yesterday. Hoffarber made a total of just two baskets, but none more important than his desperation toss. Damian Johnson and Lawrence McKenzie kept the team close throughout with 17 and 15 points, respectively, even though the unit made a mere 33.9 percent from the field and was outscored by 10 at the free-throw line. Perhaps more importantly, the team held the Hoosiers to just 1-of-14 shooting beyond the arc. McKenzie leads the team in scoring with his 12.2 ppg, with Dan Coleman following closely behind with his 12.0 ppg. The fact that Hoffarber was the hero yesterday is not unusual, considering he is one of the better perimeter shooters on the unit with his 42.9 percent success from three-point range.

The Illini are playing on borrowed time, considering how poorly the team performed during the regular season against the rest of the Big Ten. This may be a chance for the Golden Gophers to finally get to the title game, but given the success of Illinois in this realm, you can never count them out.

Predicted Outcome

Illinois 66, Minnesota 63