Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Nebraska

The Illinois basketball team needed to start the Big Ten slate off well but failed to do so on Sunday night.

The game against Nebraska was actually quite depressing. The Illini tried to put up a fight but just couldn’t hold on. Illinois started slow and never recovered.

Illinois managed to tie the game up a 2-2 but that was the last tie we would see the entire game. Nebraska went on an 11-0 run to bring the score to 13-2 in favor of the Cornhuskers. The Illini did fight back a little to get the score down to only a four-point deficit at 16-12. Nebraska decided to go on another run, though.

The Cornhuskers quickly increased their four-point lead to 12-points in the matter of a few minutes. At the 10-minute mark of the first half, Nebraska had the lead 25-13. Illinois fought back again, though. They were able to go on a little 7-0 run themselves to get the score down to 25-20 with six minutes left in the first half. It was all Nebraska from there, though. They extended the margin down the stretch and took a lead into halftime, 39-23.

Illinois didn’t fare well in the second half either. The Illini managed to get the deficit down to nine points on multiple occasions but that was as close as the game was able to get. The final horn blew and the Illini lost 75-60 to the Cornhuskers.

Here are five observations from the Illini loss to Nebraska.