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Illinois Basketball: Takeaways from the Illini loss to New Mexico State

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 16: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts during the game against the New Mexico State Aggies at United Center on December 16, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 16: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts during the game against the New Mexico State Aggies at United Center on December 16, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – DECEMBER 16: Zach Lofton
CHAMPAIGN, IL – DECEMBER 16: Zach Lofton /

1. This might be a season of only development

Entering the 2017-2018 campaign, I was looking forward to an Illinois basketball team that competed and won games. This is what I was expecting and when you win games you make the NCAA tournament, or so I have been told.

Well, six games into the season, things seemed to be going pretty well. Illinois was 6-0 and they were heading into the ACC-Big Ten Challenge against an average to below average Wake Forest program. The Illini ended up dropping that game, though.

Since the loss to the Demon Deacons, Illinois hasn’t been the same. The proceeded to drop the following two games after that and have only won two games since. Illinois now sits with a record of 8-5 on the season, and the NCAA tournament is starting to drift off into the distance with only a small outline you can still see if you squint your eyes.

Moving forward, Illinois is going to have to win all the games they are supposed to win, and then they will have to win a few they aren’t supposed to win. A 2-0 non-conference finish is a must as well as a 4-1 start to the main Big Ten slate. This would put Illinois back into the NCAA tournament discussion but until then, this season is starting to look like it is only for development.

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