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Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Wisconsin part two

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 08: Ethan Happ
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 08: Ethan Happ /
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MADISON, WI – JANUARY 19: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood talks with Wisconsin Badger head coach Greg Gard after an college basketball game between Illinois Fighting Illini and the Wisconsin Badgers on January 19th, 2018 at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. Wisconsin defeats Illinois 75-50. (Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MADISON, WI – JANUARY 19: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood talks with Wisconsin Badger head coach Greg Gard after an college basketball game between Illinois Fighting Illini and the Wisconsin Badgers on January 19th, 2018 at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. Wisconsin defeats Illinois 75-50. (Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. NIT might be out of the question

After the loss to Ohio State in which the Illini fought tough, I figured the NIT was the likely destination for the Fighting Brad Underwood’s. But, that is not the case anymore after the debacle we saw on Thursday night.

Illinois had a chance to get above .500 again but lost to a bad Wisconsin team. In fact, I think this is the worst Badgers team I have seen in my lifetime. Yet, the Illini still managed to get beat by a Wisconsin team who is now 11-15 this season.

The Illini really needed to win this game against the Badgers to get to the NIT. It was a home contest against a bad Wisconsin bunch. Now they are 12-13 overall and 2-10 in Big Ten play. That isn’t good enough to make any postseason tournament.

The rest of the season doesn’t set up well for the Illini either. They have Penn State next at home. That could be a win but they are not an easy team to beat. Illinois also has road games against Indiana, No. 4 Michigan State and Rutgers. All of these games could be losses. The two home games the rest of the way are against Nebraska and No. 3 Purdue. Both of those could be losses as well.

Illinois is not likely to finish this season above .500 which means they are not only going to miss the NIT, but they are also going to miss all postseason tournaments period. Hopefully, they are learning some things so next season isn’t a repeat.

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