Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Penn State 2.0

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Jan 19, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood (R) fist bumps Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) and forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) during the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Illinois needed to play like this

Coming into the game against Penn State, things were a little shaky. I said in my last observation article that the loss to Ohio State wasn’t a big deal because there were so many big games remaining.

I meant what I said, but it is still nice to get a win. I believe, while the Ohio State game wasn’t a huge deal, that the game against the Nittany Lions on Tuesday was a must-win game.

Illinois was coming off back-to-back losses by dropping a game to Maryland and the Buckeyes. More importantly, the schedule coming up for the Illini looks to be extremely difficult.

The upcoming Illinois schedule features some tough competition. The Michigan State game is postponed this weekend. After that, the Illini takes on No. 4 Iowa on January 29. Illinois then comes back to Champaign to take on a streaky Indiana program.

After the game against the Hoosiers, Illinois then has seven games left of the season of which five of those games are against ranked competition.

With difficult competition left in the season – six out of nine games against ranked opponents – it was crucial to beat Penn State. That is what made the game on Tuesday night a must-win. If we fall to the Nittany Lions, the current season would have been in extreme danger. That didn’t happen, though.

Illinois won the game on Tuesday night and they looked good. They performed how they needed to perform. The Illini needed to play like this for confidence moving forward.

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