Illinois basketball came back down to Earth in a big way on Tuesday night against Michigan State.
This was a brutal game from the tip. Illinois looked sluggish in the first half but couldn’t hit a different gear in the final 20 minutes of action like they usually do. A couple of attempts to make a run late in the second half were stalled by poor free throw shooting. Michigan State would end up winning this game 81-72.
Here are four observations from the Illini loss to Michigan State.
1. This was probably Andre Curbelo’s best game
There wasn’t a lot to be positive about against Michigan State on Tuesday night. The Illini were handed a loss soundly, but there were a couple of bright spots.
Andre Curbelo was one of those bright spots. Let me first start off by saying, I realize that he is a little crazy with the ball at times. The three turnovers against the Spartans were not good, and that needs to be corrected moving forward.
But I believe this was easily Curbelo’s best game with the Illini so far in his young career. I know that he has had games where he put up more points or more assists, but each and every play Curbelo made gave me a little more hope this Illinois team could mount a comeback.
Illinois was down 18 points at one time. Curbelo got into the paint and hit a jumper. He followed that up with a steal and an assist to Trent Frazier to get the score back to a 14-point deficit.
With less than nine minutes to go in the game, Curbelo went on a solo five-point run to help Illinois not get completely blown out of this game. Without him, the Illini would have lost by 20 or more points.
By the end of the night, Curbelo would finish with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. He was 5-of-7 from the field as well. This kid is still super raw when it comes to his shooting from the outside and taking care of the ball, but the future is so bright for him.