Illinois Basketball: Top 5 Illini wins in the Brad Underwood era
1. Illinois vs. #5 Michigan – December 11, 2019
I believe the No. 1 win set the tone for the entire 2019-20 campaign. There are some wins throughout time you can point to that made the rest of the season. One that comes to mind was Illinois’ victory over then No. 1 Wake Forest in 2004-05. While the win over No. 5 Michigan this past season isn’t the same as that win over the Demon Deacons, it is definitely in the same ballpark.
Illinois’ season was off to a less than ideal start. Dropping back-to-back games against power-five conference programs hurt. This brought the Illini’s record to 6-3 overall and we started 0-1 in the Big Ten. The next game was against an extremely tough Wolverines bunch.
Everything changed that cold December day in 2019. Illinois took a two-point lead into halftime and extended it to nine points in a 71-62 victory over Michigan. Taking down the No. 5 team in the nation is a big deal, but the ramifications of this win were felt for the entire season.
Instead of losing and being 6-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Big Ten, the Illini won the game and moved to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. That alone is a huge difference. But this win also helped Illinois win nine out of the following 11 games, moving the overall record to 16-5, squarely in the NCAA tournament.
Beating a top-five team has been a rare feat for the Illini over the past decade or so. This win over Michigan showed the world Illinois had turned a corner. It was a great resume builder as well.
It was a toss-up on which game would be No. 1 on the list of the biggest wins in the Brad Underwood era. I believe the victory over the Wolverines takes the cake. This win was the foundation for what would be one of the best seasons in the last 20 years.