Basketball
Illinois Basketball Preview: Underwood’s Disdain for Defeat Key to Avoiding Back-to Back Losses
Illinois Basketball vs Maryland Preview: Underwood discusses his keys to avoiding consecutive losses, highlighted by his hatred for defeat.

Underwood – Â “We like winning, we talk about winning,” says Underwood. “I think you look at every game, and we try to figure out what we didn’t do very well in the last game. You do it better the next, and have a tremendous distaste for losing.” stated the Illini head coach.
“I have stated this many times to out staff, I have said many times to our players, it gets harder, and harder for me to handle losing… And I’ve always been a very bad loser. The feelings I get are terrible, and you know what, that’s ok, because that’s what keeps driving me pushing me, and I want those guys to have the same feeling.” said Underwood.
“If it’s ever – “hoo-dee-hum, on to the next, we got beat,” then, I won’t be your ball coach very long, because it’s gotta hurt. It’s the way I was raised, it’s the way I was brought up, and it’s the way I tried to build this team – losing is not acceptable.”
Illinois Basketball will tipoff vs Maryland at 8 PM CT on FS1. Will they continue Underwood’s streak vs the Terrapins?

Nov 28, 2024. Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images.
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