VIDEO: Illini Now/SI Morning Update With Matthew Stevens

Illini Now/Sports Illustrated publisher/editor Matthew Stevens talks about the upset win of House Of Paign over the defending champions and top seed Carmen's Crew in the Round-of-16 of The Basketball Tournament on Wednesday.

Kyle Vinales, who became the quickest player in Central Connecticut State to reach the 1,000-point plateau and averaged 19.2 points per game in his three-year college career, hit the final two baskets to send House Of Paign into the quarterfinal round. Vinales said the team got direct instructions from former Illini star Malcolm Hill before the last two possessions for House Of Paign.

“That goes to show Malcolm Hill’s leadership in the huddle because he said ‘give the ball to Kyle’,” Vinales said in the post-game media conference. “Those were his exact words. He said ‘He has a mismatch’ and I was just trying to exploit it. My teammates gave the space I needed and I was lucky enough to make those baskets.”

Vinales was selected to this House Of Paign team based on the recommendation of former Illini forward and Champaign native Michael Finke after Finke had played professionally with the 6-foot-2 guard for BC Kalev/Cramo in Estonia.

In what had been primarily a tournament filled with higher seeds winning, TBT 2020 saw arguably the event’s biggest upset Wednesday as House Of Paign, a newly-formed team of mostly Illini alums, knocked out top-seeded Carmen’s Crew thanks to a remarkable second half that saw them outscore the host squad 37-24.

One other note: Stevens also spoke to BuckeyesNow/Sports Illustrated publisher Brendan Gulick about Ohio State temporarily shutting down all voluntary summer workouts of its fall sports. Gulick tells us what he knows is happening on the Columbus campus and the two Big Ten Conference Sports Illustrated site publishers discuss what this news could mean for other league schools going forward.