The Illinois basketball team went on the road again and failed to win another close game.
This was a pretty tight game for much of the first half. Illinois had the lead up to the 12:05 mark, but then Northwestern kicked their game up. They ended up taking an eight-point lead with 5:03 left in the first half. The Illini responded nicely, though.
Illinois found something at the end of the first half. They were a completely different team than what we saw at the beginning of the game or really for much of the season so far. The Illini started to score and went on a 15-1 run to end the first half with the lead 31-25.
The biggest lead Illinois could get was eight points. Northwestern fought back pretty early in the second half. Less than seven minutes into the second half, the Wildcats managed to pull even with the Illini, 42-42. From that point, the game continued to go back and forth. Illinois took the lead with 1:30 left, but after an offensive rebound, Northwestern hit a three-pointer to win the game 68-66.
Illinois now moves to 4-11 on the season. They are 0-4 in the Big Ten as well. This team played a solid game, but they just can’t finish on the right note.
Here are five observations from the Illini loss to Northwestern.