Illinois Basketball: Illini taking down a blue-blood in Duke is rare
It has now been two days since the Illinois basketball program was able to take down the No. 10 ranked Duke Blue Devils.
I would venture to say there are a lot of Duke fans who share the feeling of, “act like you have been there” when it comes to Illinois fans celebrating this victory. Well, Duke fans, some Illinois fans haven’t been there and, for the rest of us, it has been a very, very long time.
The win on Tuesday checks all of the big boxes. It was against a top 10 team in the nation. It was a non-conference opponent in one of the best conferences in college basketball in the ACC. It was on the road. It was also against a traditional blue-blood program. Check, check, check and check.
As I sit here, though, I am trying to think of where this win ranks all-time. I know, somewhere down the road, I will put together another top 10 victories in the last 10 years for the Illini. But, for now, I want to just think about where this win would fit in with the other big wins in recent memory.
Illinois’ win over No. 5 Michigan last season is probably up there in the same ballpark as the win over Duke. It doesn’t check all of the boxes, though. The only box that victory checked was the Wolverines being a top 10 team. Beyond that, this game was a Big Ten matchup at home against a solid program.
In general, beating ranked non-conference opponents hasn’t been something the Illini have done a lot of in recent years. We were actually on a seven-game losing streak against ranked non-conference teams, the last victory coming against No. 23 Missouri in 2013-14.
During the 2012-13 campaign, you will find the most recent victory that checks the most boxes. Illinois took down No. 10 Gonzaga, 85-74. This game was against a top 10 team, it was a non-conference opponent and it was on the road. But, while Gonzaga has been good for the last couple of decades, they aren’t a blue-blood program.
How far do you have to go back to find the last time Illinois beat a top 10 non-conference blue-blood program on the road?
The last time Illinois beat a top 10 non-conference blue-blood program on the road was during the 1999-00 season.
That year, Illinois entered the season ranked No. 16 in the nation. After starting 5-2, the Illini went up against a tough No. 8 Kansas program at a neutral site.
Kansas was kind of in transition mode. They were coming off a decade of having teams laced with NBA talent. The 1999-00 Jayhawks had NBA talent in Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich, but they were all freshmen at the time.
Illinois went into that game and ran roughshod over the Jayhawks thanks to a strong second half. The Illini came away with an 84-70 victory led by Cory Bradford, who dropped 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field.
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So, let’s put this into perspective a little more. The last time Illinois took down a non-conference blue-blood program on the road that was ranked inside the top 10 was in 1999. Adam Miller, Andre Curbelo, Ayo Dosunmu and Coleman Hawkins were not born yet. That is how big the win over Duke was on Tuesday night.