Illinois Basketball Survives OT Thriller Vs. Cornhuskers

Illinois Basketball survived a legitimate scare at home from the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday night, winning 87-84.

Up 10 with less than four minutes to go, Illinois proceeded to choke it away: turning over the basketball, taking bad shots and missing free throws. The game shouldn’t have gone to overtime in the first place. Illinois had several opportunities to put the Huskers away in the 2nd but refused to. Luke Goode missed all his three-point attempts, Dain Dainja missed a wide-open dunk, and Nebraska stuck around.

Letting a good shooting team hang with you when you have ample opportunities to close the door is usually a recipe for disaster and nearly a disaster it was for Illinois Basketball. Domask with a chance to win the game misses the final free throw, sending the game into OT. Terrence Shannon fell in love with the three-point shot and refused to drive to the rim towards the end of regulation and OT. Justin Harmon turned the ball over late in the 2nd half. Simply put, the Illini struggled to make the winning play down the stretch.

This continues a recent trend for Illinois of letting mediocre teams hang around for far too long.

Indiana, Rutgers, Maryland, and now Nebraska have all found some success at the State Farm Center.

There was a bright spot amidst the almost infamous collapse – Ty Rodgers. The sophomore was incredible on Sunday night, registering the most rebounds on the team. He was also locked in more defensively tonight, something Illinois will need more of going forward.

With Wisconsin losing, the Big Ten title race is on, but Illinois will need to find a way to play better basketball at home against every opponent’s best shot to hoist the trophy in March.

**stats provided by ESPN**