The Unfortunate truth about Illinois Basketball

Illinois Basketball just painfully lost at home to Michigan State in awful fashion. After holding a 16 point lead over the Spartans, the Illini hit a brick wall. In the last 8 minutes and 29 seconds, the Illini failed to score a single basket. Despite being in the bonus, Illinois basketball continued to chuck up meaningless three-point shots. Kasparas Jakucionis took pull-up three-point shots instead of running offense and the Illini fell flat on their face in a game they should have won. Ultimately, Illinois basketball shot 7 for 33 from the three point line and only have themselves to blame. The veterans were especially disappointing as Ben Humrichous shot 0-6 from three and Kylan Boswell did not score a single point.

The Coaching staff went away from using Morez Johnson Jr. as a powerful rim roller and let their team run around without a purpose. This loss confirms the unfortunate truth about Illinois basketball. This is going to be a disappointing regular season team that may ultimately have a shot at a run in the NCAA tournament if luck falls their way.

Similar Teams

Two years ago, Eric Musselman had a very similar team at Arkansas. That team also had a lottery pick in freshman point guard, Anthony Black. He also had NBA players Ricky Council IV and Jordan Walsh on the wing. That team lost five of their last seven games in the regular season and ended up with an 8-10 conference record. However, that same team made it to the NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed, beat the Illini, and beat the defending champions, the Kansas Jayhawks. The team made it to the Sweet 16 despite a struggling regular season.

Another example is the Michigan Wolverines in 2021-2022. This team also had All-American center Hunter Dickinson and two NBA players Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate. That team ended the year in controversy after Juwan Howard palmed the face of a Wisconsin assistant and finished with a 17-14 record. However, that team got some favorable matchups in the NCAA tournament and beat 3-seed Tennessee to make it to the Sweet 16.

Is that where Illinois is headed?

I think the safest bet is that Illinois will at least get a chance in March Madness. They have a solid amount of quad-one victories and should make the NCAA tournament as it stands today. They might not get a favorable seed, however, there is some excitement in knowing that this team could get hot. If they do, that means this past month will all just be a bad memory.

However, there is no one in the world who would be shocked if the Illini were just a one-and-done in March. Buckle up.

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