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Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini win over Nebraska

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 22: Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders perform during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 22: Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders perform during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Illinois Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 22: Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders perform during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team was on the right side of a close game on Sunday night.

The Illini went up against the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the second time this season. This time they didn’t lose on a buzzer-beater three-point shot. Illinois actually came away with a win that was clinched down the stretch of the game.

Illinois started the game off hot taking an 11-3 lead early on. The game tightened up a little bit but the Illini continued to keep a nice lead up 31-22 with 7:33 remaining in the first half. Illinois even had the lead up to 10 points with less than two minutes remaining in the half but Nebraska hit a few big shots to bring the halftime score to 43-36 in favor of the Illini.

Nebraska started the second half off hot and Illinois wasn’t scoring. This was one of the classic Illini droughts we are so used to seeing. The Cornhuskers ended up taking the lead and extending it to 52-47. I was a little uneasy at this moment because we know how these droughts usually turn out. But, Illinois fought back and took the lead 58-57 with 7:20 remaining in the game.

The game continued to go back and forth until Illinois started getting some defensive stops and making some shots. They got the lead up to two possessions and never looked back. Illinois won the game 72-66 over Nebraska.

Here are five takeaways from the Illini win over Nebraska.

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