Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Wisconsin

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MADISON, WI – JANUARY 19: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini calls out instructions in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on January 19, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team needed a win on Friday night but weren’t even close to the Wisconsin Badgers.

I have been upset this season with Illinois losses, but this is one of the few games that I have been truly disappointed with how the team has played. They didn’t show heart and weren’t aggressive. They didn’t show up for this game and this was evident.

The game didn’t start off bad for the Illini. They were competitive with Wisconsin and kept the game close for a while. They were only down 22-18 with 9:02 left in the first half. But, that is when the Badgers went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-point lead.

Illinois could only put up six more points over the next seven minutes, and Wisconsin continued to extend the lead. They went up 40-24 with 3:09 left in the first half. Illinois ended up fighting back, though. They narrowed the deficit to only 11 points going into halftime.

The Illini came out of the locker room stale in the second half. Wisconsin extended the lead to 20 points with 11:33 to go in the game. They didn’t look back from there and ended up winning the game by 25 points, 75-50.

This was a rough game for the team and the Illini fan base. There are some things I saw in the game as well. Here are five takeaways from the Illini loss to Wisconsin.

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