Illinois v. No. 4 Iowa State November 28, 2015
The game against No. 4 Iowa State back in November 2015 was a huge game in the history of the Illinois basketball program. This was potentially the game that derailed the entire Illini season last year.
Illinois didn’t start the season off well going 3-3 in their first six with losses to North Florida, Providence and Chattanooga. But, through a half of basketball Illinois was only down 40-39 against the Cyclones. That is when center Mike Thorne Jr. went down with an injury.
Thorne only logged 13 minutes that game but still had 10 points and 7 rebounds. He would have had a monster game and the Illini might have come out victorious.
Illinois ended up losing that game and Thorne really never returned the rest of the season. There were many close calls throughout the year but the Illini weren’t the same team in the paint without him.
This injury to Thorne in the game against Iowa State could have potentially made the fire underneath the seat of Groce even hotter. This was a bad turn for the Illini as they finished the year 13-18 overall.
The Iowa State game goes down as one of the most important games in the career of Groce.