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Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Gonzaga

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN , IL - NOVEMBER 13: The Georgetown Hoyas line up for the National Anthem before a college basketball game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at the State Farm Center on November 13, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
CHAMPAIGN , IL - NOVEMBER 13: The Georgetown Hoyas line up for the National Anthem before a college basketball game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at the State Farm Center on November 13, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 19: Zach Norvell Jr. #23 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini battle for possession of a loose ball during the first half of the game at Lahaina Civic Center on November 19, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 19: Zach Norvell Jr. #23 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini battle for possession of a loose ball during the first half of the game at Lahaina Civic Center on November 19, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

1. We are competing again

Let’s be honest where the Illinois basketball program was when Brad Underwood took over. They had missed four-straight NCAA tournaments. Their roster was a complete mess due to a lack of talent and depth. This wasn’t a good team and the stats show that fact.

There are many avenues I can go down to prove that Illinois was a mess, but I am just going to stick with competitiveness against ranked opponents. During the previous coaching regime, the team was 9-28 against ranked opponents and four of those wins were with Bruce Weber’s players.

Once the previous regime was able to get their own players into the program, the team struggled mightily against ranked opponents. They only had one win against a ranked team in the last 15 tries. In the 14 losses by the Illini, the average margin of defeat was by 19.3 points. There was only one game the Illini lost to a ranked team that the deficit was below 10 points.  This isn’t competitive basketball.

Underwood is changing this ugly trend. Year one was a struggle but he still had a lot of the previous regime’s players under his wing. Illinois ended up dropping all four of the ranked games last season, but the average margin of defeat was only 12 points.

While the team has started 1-2 this season, the tides seem to be turning for this program. Illinois just took on a national title contender in No. 3 Gonzaga and had them on the ropes. The Illini ended up losing by six points, but there are so many positives you can take from this game. This Illini program is competitive again. We are a good team and we will start winning against ranked opponents.

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