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Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini loss to Ohio State

By Rees Woodcock

Jan 16, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; A wide angle view is seen during the first half in a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Ohio State Buckeyes at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; A wide angle view is seen during the first half in a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Ohio State Buckeyes at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 18: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at State Farm Center on January 18, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team just fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes, giving them their first back-to-back losses this season.

Illinois, once again, dug themselves into a deep hole, but this time they couldn’t get out of it. After a great comeback, the Illini fell just short, losing the game 87-81.

Here are four observations from the Illini loss to Ohio State.

1. Slow starts have to stop

When the Illini took on Northwestern three games ago and managed to win the game despite being down 15 points at halftime, it was fun because they came out victorious.

But my heart can’t handle doing this every game. More importantly, it is not sustainable.

Illinois has done this a few times during the 2020-21 season. They dug themselves into an eight-point hole at halftime of the Missouri game and couldn’t pull themselves out. This resulted in a loss.

Against Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights increased their lead to 12 points late in the second half. Illinois made a valiant comeback but fell by three points by the end of the game.

Despite winning by 17 points against Penn State, the Illini started that game off down 19-4. They dug themselves into an early hole but managed to get out of it in glorious fashion. They got lucky Penn State isn’t a good team.

On Saturday afternoon, Illinois tried to do their comeback thing again. Down 15 points at halftime, the Orange and Blue stormed back to get the deficit down to just three points with under a minute to go. But it was too late. Ohio State was able to put the game away at the free throw line.

I love to see the resilience of this Illinois basketball team, but they shouldn’t be trying to come back from nearly a double-digit deficit in so many games. That isn’t normal. This team has way too much talent to be finding themselves in that big of a hole. If they continue to play in this fashion, I am not sure how far they can really go in the postseason.

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