Illinois interim Head Coach Jamall Walker will once again be on the sidelines Monday night as the Illini take on Boise State at the State Farm Center in the second round of the NIT.

Top seeds continue to lose, and the Illini and Illinois State are the only top seeds remaining in the 32-team bracket.

Here’s a look at the particulars.

#2 Seed Illinois (19-14) vs. #6 Seed Boise State (20-11)

March 20, 2017 // 8 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center (15,544)

TV: ESPN – Doug Sherman (Play-By-Play), Stephen Howard (Analyst) // Internet Stream: WatchESPN.com

Radio: Fighting Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas (Analyst)

*Illinois will take the court in search of its 20th victory, aiming for the program’s 32nd 20-win season all-time. Senior Malcolm Hill enters Monday’s game on the verge of moving into third place Illinois career scoring list. Hill currently ranks fourth with 1,804 points, just behind Illini all-time great Dee Brown (No. 3, 1,812 pts, 2003-06).

*Illinois is making its third NIT appearance in the last four seasons, and seventh appearance all-time. • The Illini own an all-time record of 9-6 in the NIT. • Illinois is 6-3 at home, 2-2 on the road, and 1-1 at Madison Square Garden in the NIT. • Illinois went a combined 3-1 against this year’s NIT field after beating Iowa in both Champaign and Iowa City, defeating BYU at the United Center, and falling to Indiana in Bloomington. • Illinois is participating in postseason play for the 15th time in the last 18 seasons, 21st in the last 25, and 32nd in the last 38 dating back to its first NIT appearance in 1980. • Illinois has advanced to the second round of the NIT for the fifth time in seven appearances.

*Boise State Junior Chandler Hutchison scored 34 points Tuesday, in Boise State’s first-round win at Utah. Hutchison’s career-high scoring performance was the most points by a Bronco in a postseason game in school history.

*This is Boise State’s fifth trip to the NIT, previously earning berths in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2004. The Broncos are 4-4 all-time in the tournament, this is the third time they have reached the round of 16. 16. Boise State is making its 14th postseason appearance in program history and fourth in Leon Rice’s seven years as head coach (two NCAA Tournaments, one NIT and one CBI).

*Boise State will be without starting Center David Wacker who left their last game with a dislocated shoulder.

*As we reported prior to the last game, Michael Finke has a stress fracture in his foot and is out for the season.

Pound the paint – With Wacker out the Illini have a size advantage. Illinois needs to attack the rim and use their post ups with Morgan and he has to handle the likely traps and double teams.

Defend the 3-point line – Underdogs get wins by getting hot from 3, especially undersized underdogs. Illinois has to make sure they aren’t getting uncontested jumpers from 3.

Play with energy – Why do you think that the top seeds are losing? In large part because of the fact that they wanted to be in the NCAA tourney and were left out. The rest of the field is in Carpe Diem mode.

This is a good Boise State team when healthy, as they beat SMU earlier this season. However, they are a bit banged up and will have a hard time handling the Illini. Go with Illinois 71-62 in this one.