5. What a massive win for Illinois basketball
Let’s do a little recap of what the past week has brought the Illinois basketball program. We have lost three straight games, all of which were by double-digit points.
Illinois went into Madison Square Garden and lost to Duke by 43 points, which was a school record. All of that ugliness led to some fans calling for Brad Underwood to be fired.
To say the game on Tuesday night was huge for the Illini is an understatement. If we came out of the gates and laid an egg against Iowa, then the whole program could have exploded. This might have turned into a rebuild rather than a team with potential.
Instead of falling flat, Illinois rose to the occasion. The program started strong and finished even stronger against an Iowa team that is fighting to get into the Big Ten Tournament. This wasn’t going to be a cupcake game, as no Big Ten contest ever is.
Illinois broke out of the usual habits too. We rarely settled for three-pointers. The Illini drove to the bucket and were aggressive. This helped draw fouls and even opened teammates up for quality three-point shots.
The style of basketball we saw on Tuesday night against Iowa is what will win us games moving forward. We are an inside-out type of team. This isn’t a shoot-the-lights-out program. Illinois is a team that needs to get into the paint and score efficiently. Against Iowa, Illinois played a good game and came away with one of the bigger wins of the season.