Illinois Basketball: Top 10 Games Every Illini Fan Wishes to Attend
March 26, 2005; Illinois vs. Arizona (The Comeback)
This is the game that every Illinois basketball fan remembers who is still alive and over the age of 18. It is titled, The Comeback.
Illinois entered this game having a fairly simple route up to that point. They were the No. 1 overall seed and only had one loss heading into the Elite 8.
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The Illini went up against a loaded No. 3 seed in Arizona. They had Channing Frye, who is currently in the NBA Finals and the other four players on the Wildcats all saw NBA action at one time.
Illinois did not look up to the challenge early on. They were down 14 points with 3:19 left in the game. Things were looking awfully bleak.
This is when everything turned around, though.
Luther Head hit a three-pointer to narrow the lead. The Illini went on a massive tear from there and ended up sending the game into overtime.
Illinois beat Arizona in overtime to advance to the Final 4. This was the best game in Illinois history, unquestionably.
I still tear up and get goosebumps when I watch that grainy YouTube video that chronicles the ending of the game.
This is one game I wish I was at because I know how I reacted when watching it on the television, I can’t imagine how I would have reacted at the game.
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