Illinois basketball came out of the gates flat against Nebraska, and we never recovered.
It was such a difficult game to watch. Nebraska had more hustle and heart in the game, and the Illini just chucked up three-point attempts like the Cornhuskers weren’t going to be a tough fight.
We are nearly 24 hours removed from the loss, and I still can’t help but feel disappointed in what I saw. Illinois mailed this one in. We weren’t all there, and it showed on the court. Nebraska punched us in the mouth and continued punching until they eventually beat us in overtime, 80-74.
Here are five disheartening observations from the Illinois basketball loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers
1. Turnovers were the deal breaker for Illinois
On paper, the Illinois basketball team was evenly matched with Nebraska on Thursday night. We had numbers that mirrored the Cornhuskers, but there was one glaring issue.
When you lose the turnover battle against the opponent, it is hard to win games. When you get clobbered by the opponent in the turnover battle, then it is nearly impossible to win. The fact Illinois took this game to overtime is nothing short of a miracle.
Illinois had 17 turnovers on Thursday night. While that is an ugly number, the fact Nebraska only had six is even more incredible. They beat us by 11 turnovers in the game.
The 17 turnovers for the Illini were the second most of the season. The only other game in which Illinois had more turnovers was in the narrow win over Oakland back in early November. The -11 turnover margin was a high mark for the season thus far.
In games that Illinois has lost the turnover battle this season, we are 5-7 overall. That means we are 9-0 in games where we have won the turnover battle.
Kasparas Jakucionis is a great player, but he is trying to do too much, and I don’t think he is fully healthy. His six turnovers paced the Illini against Nebraska. Kylan Boswell didn’t do anything in the game but still managed two turnovers. Five Illinois players had at least two turnovers and all but Carey Booth who played had at least one turnover.
It is unacceptable how often Illinois coughs up the ball. If we continue at this pace, not only will the Illini be struggling to get into the NCAA tournament, but if we make it, this team will be an early out.