Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Penn State

By Rees Woodcock

LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 15: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is yelling at Illinois guard Trent Frazier (1) for a foul during the first 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)
LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 15: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is yelling at Illinois guard Trent Frazier (1) for a foul during the first 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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
Illinois sports
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 09: Illinois Fighting Illini fans hold up signs in the first half of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Michigan Wolverines game during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

1. The Penn State loss was embarrassing

As an Illinois fan – I know many of you remember this – during the John Groce era there were a lot of games that were embarrassing. The team would go out there and absolutely lay an egg.

I would see the Illini get beat by 20 or more points way too many times the previous five years of watching this team. That is one of the reasons why Groce was let go. We needed to find a head coach who could get this team motivated and win some ball games, or at least not lose them by a wide margin.

For most of the first year under Brad Underwood, that has been the case. Illinois has lost a ton of games but they have all been pretty close. The first blowout game was against Wisconsin on the road. This was an eye-opener because the Badgers are not good this season.

Last night was the second gut-punch of the year. Illinois lost by 22 points to not only Penn State, but they came to Champaign and whooped our butts. We can’t be losing by 20 or more points to any team in Big Ten let alone at home against the Nittany Lions.

I understand that Underwood has a depleted roster that was also missing Michael Finke last night. But, this is unacceptable. I believe in this staff and this team, but this can’t continue happening.

Home/Illinois Basketball