Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini win over Nebraska

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 22: Illinois Fighting Illini Guard Trent Frazier (1) shoots a free throw during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 22, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Illinois finally closed out a game

Sunday was the first time in a long time where I could say Illinois closed out a game. What I mean by that is Nebraska tied the game up with 3:01 left in the second half, and the Illini ended up doing what they needed to do to win the game.

There have been way too many times this season where Illinois had the game close coming down the stretch only to let the other team come back and win it. That has been a trend I wanted the Illini to buck and they did just that on Sunday.

Illinois had the Wake Forest game to a three-point deficit with 1:23 left in the game and they lost. They were only down two points to UNLV with 3:21 left in the game and lost. Illinois was tied with New Mexico State with 1:19 remaining in the game and lost. I haven’t even mentioned the three overtime losses for the Illini either. These are just six of the losses for Illinois. I could continue on as well.

Let’s just say, Illinois isn’t good at closing out games. That is why this win over Nebraska is so sweet. They finally closed out a game that was close down the stretch. I don’t want to overreact too much, but this could be a sign of maturity.

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