Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Nebraska

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LINCOLN, NE – JANUARY 15: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood reacts to action on the court in the game against Nebraska during the second half of a college basketball game Monday, January 15th at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska defeated Illinois 64 to 63. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team once again dropped a Big Ten game but this time it was to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Illinois entered the game against Nebraska 10-8 overall and 0-5 in the Big Ten. They needed a win against this Cornhuskers team but failed to do so. They matched up well on Monday night and even got their big men in foul trouble. But, that just wasn’t enough.

The Illini got down early in the game but regained the lead at the 8:01 mark in the first half. They continued to fight back and forth with Nebraska and finished on a 5-0 run to bring the score back to 32-30 Nebraska lead going into halftime.

To start the second half, Illinois came out firing. They ended up taking the lead by six points at one time, but Nebraska stormed back and regained the lead. The Cornhuskers extended that lead to eight points with 11:06 remaining in the game.

The game continued to stay close the rest of the way. Nebraska went up four points with 59-seconds remaining, but that is when Michael Finke took over. He made a two-point shot and then a three-point shot and a free throw to extend the lead to two points. Illinois then lost on a game-winning three-pointer by Nebraska.

This was a devastating loss for the Illini fan base. They needed something to go their way but they couldn’t hold onto the lead. There were some things that I observed, though. Here are my five takeaways from the Illini loss to Nebraska.

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