I think I have said this multiple times this season, but this might be the most disappointed I have been for the Illinois basketball team in 2024-25.
The Illini had a double-digit lead at one time against Michigan State, but we let it all slip away. Illinois still had a 41-37 lead at halftime, and things seemed to be leveling out. The second half started, and it was a good back-and-forth between two talented Big Ten squads.
Once the 10-minute mark hit, everything went off the rails. Illinois stopped scoring, and Michigan State took control of the game. A one point Illini lead with 10 minutes left turned into a 79-65 loss to Michigan State.
Buckle up, this is the first observations article where I didn’t type anything positive. Enjoy.
Here are five devastating observations from the Illinois basketball loss to the Michigan State Spartans
1. Illinois once again played undisciplined basketball
This is by far the most frustrating Illinois basketball team of my lifetime. I went through the John Groce era of wishing to make the bubble, and without a doubt, what I am experiencing right now is more, annoying for a lack of a better term.
I have no doubt as I type this that Illinois has a lot of talent. We are trotting out a top-five NBA Draft pick, the most unique center I have ever seen, and another center who has all-time rebounding potential. Still, this team is playing some of the most undisciplined basketball I have ever seen.
Illinois is not a good three-point shooting team, and I have been screaming that from the mountaintops. It is like we are in denial that we can’t shoot three-pointers. But there are moments of clarity, and the team runs well when we aren’t chucking up bad shots from deep.
In the UCLA game just days ago, Illinois had a 16-point lead with 4:25 to go in the game. All you have to do is kill time and get the ball inside. They will foul you. Instead, Illinois chucks up three three-point attempts and misses them all. This allows UCLA to gets going, and in the blink of an eye, it is a two point game.
On Saturday, that was the case for Illinois, but it was magnified. With 10 minutes to go in the game, the Illini had a 61-60 lead over Michigan State. All we had to do was continue getting the ball in the paint and use our big men and great driving guards to cause chaos and get to the free throw line.
Instead, Illinois rested on our three-point shooting that ranks No. 308 out of 364 teams in the country. In that final 10 minutes of action, Illinois was 0-of-13 from three-point range. That isn’t a typo. Illinois attempted 13 three-pointers. In the final 10 minutes of the game.
Just think about that for a second. In the first 30 minutes of action, Illinois only took 20 three-point attempts. In the final 10 minutes, we took 13 three-point attempts. That is 39.1% of our three-point shots came in the final 10 minutes despite being up one point at the time. That, to me, is extremely undisciplined basketball.