Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Penn State

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – FEBRUARY 23: Illinois Fighting Illini Head Coach Brad Underwood pumps up his players during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 23, 2019, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. We came back down to earth

This was one of the more embarrassing losses this season. Not because Penn State is one of the worst teams in the country or anything like that. This was an embarrassing loss because it was a should-win game.

Illinois is trying to get back to the point where they are talked about nationally as an NCAA tournament team. I want to see this team contend for Sweet 16’s sometime down the road. Losing games like this to Penn State is not a way to get to that point.

Yes, we are still extremely young and will give up games at times. I really can’t even blame our young guys for dropping the game to Penn State. It was a collective team effort to lose the way we did. This wasn’t a good game all-around.

As a team, when you shoot 39.4-percent from the field, 30-percent from the three-point arc and 64.3-percent from the free throw line, you probably aren’t going to win too many games. That was the downfall. We couldn’t put the ball in the bucket. When we had the chance to take over the game, it didn’t happen because of our lack of scoring.

Illinois was really getting on a roll a few games back. That has now come to an end. Let’s see how this young team responds at the end of the season.

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