Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win vs Northwestern

5. Illinois controls their destiny

Illinois hasn’t played well in the second half of basketball games lately. I was pretty disappointed with how they finished the Northwestern game on Sunday.

Even with the Illini limping to a victory against the Wildcats, the team is in a position where we once again control our destiny when it comes to the Big Ten regular season.

Last Tuesday, Illinois dropped a game against Purdue in which we were leading at halftime. A horrific second half made us lose by 16 points. After that loss, the Illini stopped controlling the destiny because Purdue was tied with us in the conference and had beaten us twice this season.

That was until Michigan throttled Purdue on Thursday. This dropped the Boilermakers’ record in the Big Ten, and it also enabled Illinois to take control of the conference once again.

I can’t stress to you enough how big of a victory it was for Illinois to beat Northwestern. It was an ugly game, but it was a win nonetheless. With that win, the Illini continued to control their destiny for the Big Ten regular season crown.

If Illinois can win out, we win the Big Ten this year. That would be an impressive feat considering how good the conference is this season. It won’t be an easy road, and if we play as we did in the second half against the Wildcats, then there is no way we win out. But, if we can play our A- game or better the rest of the way, I have no doubt the regular season title is ours.

It is exciting that Illinois controls the narrative right now. Win and we are in. It is one game at a time right now. Let’s knock off Rutgers on Wednesday and continue our trek to be the best team in the Big Ten.