Basketball Game Preview: Normal University Pioneers vs. Jacksonville Crimsons

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Previous Games

01/11/24 - Away	42-37 W
01/20/23 - Away	52-30 W
01/03/23 - Home	49-44 W
02/04/22 - Home	40-38 W
01/04/22 - Away	44-58 L
+ 5 more games

Normal University is 9-1 against Jacksonville since January of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Normal University Pioneers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Jacksonville Crimsons at 7:00 p.m. Jacksonville took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Normal University, who comes in off a win.

If Jacksonville heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Normal University took over last week. Normal University walked away with a 55-45 victory over Springfield Southeast on Tuesday. Given the Pioneers' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 141st, while the Spartans are ranked 522nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Jacksonville ended up a good deal behind Glenwood on Tuesday and lost 55-38. The Crimsons haven't had much luck with the Titans recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.

Normal University will have to contain LaMarion Williams as he made an impact in Jacksonville's last game. He went 5 for 12 en route to 14 points and six rebounds. Those 14 points gave Williams a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Troy Defrates, who posted six points.

Normal University's win bumped their record up to 11-8. As for Jacksonville, their loss dropped their record down to 5-11.

Normal University didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Jacksonville in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 42-37 victory. Does Normal University have another victory up their sleeve, or will Jacksonville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.