One bad quarter shouldn’t blur big picture for Illinois basketball

On Wednesday night, the women’s Illinois basketball team played one of the biggest games of the season thus far.

The Illini suited up in the Music City Classic against No. 14 Kentucky. Illinois, which recently moved up to No. 19 in the country, had a chance to take down another top 25 program. Earlier this season, we beat then-No. 19 Florida State by nine points.

With the game featuring two top 25 programs going head-to-head, one would think it would be on a channel for the masses to watch. Instead, it was on BallerTV, where you had to pay $20 to watch the game. What are we doing?

But I digress.

Illinois played the Wildcats close throughout the first three quarters. Both teams were locking each other up defensively, and heading into the fourth quarter, Illinois was down 50-44. This was a game and the fourth quarter was going to determine who came out ahead.

Sadly, the Illini laid an egg. We were just 3-of-15 from the field and 1-of-8 from three-point range in the final 10 minutes of the game. On the flip side, Kentucky got hot at the right time. They were 11-of-22 from the field and 3-of-10 from three-point range in the fourth quarter.

This massive difference in shooting resulted in Kentucky winning the fourth quarter 26-9 and ultimately winning the game 76-53.

If you just look at the score, you would think Illinois was outmatched, but that wasn’t the case at all. This was just one bad quarter that snowballed on this up-and-coming program.

Illinois basketball is allowed to lose, and don’t let this one bad quarter get in the way of progress

There is no sugarcoating this loss by the Illini. It was an ugly game shooting, and that needs to be fixed. You aren’t going to win too many games going 1-of-16 from three-point range. That works against low-level competition but not against ranked opponents.

I think it is fair to be hard on this experienced Illinois squad. Our starting backcourt was 1-of-11 from three-point range. Kendall Bostic couldn't get much to go inside, as she was 5-of-16 from the field. It was just not an efficient game.

On the same note, I also believe this bad shooting night and one bad quarter overall doesn’t write the book. It is a page in a long book we call the 2024-25 season.

Sure, Illinois laid a stinker on Wednesday night, but it was more of a reality check. We aren’t going to go undefeated, and now we know the feeling of the wrath of one of the best teams in the country. This was a learning moment for the Illini.

There is still plenty to be hopeful for and to look forward to the rest of the season. This is still a top-25 Illinois program. We have beaten a ranked opponent already, and we have a get-right game against Canisius on Monday. That will be a nice tune-up game for when we take on No. 11 Ohio State the following Sunday.

On top of that, Illinois is still 6-1 and on the path to make another NCAA tournament. That would be two NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons. We started 6-1 despite the team not shooting well from three-point range this season too.

Illinois has knocked down just 27.1% of three-point attempts this season. That is a big drop from the 31.6% we were shooting in 2023-24. So, we have started the season hot and we aren’t even playing our best basketball. Just imagine what this season will be like if we do start hitting shots again.

With that being said, don’t get discouraged by the Kentucky result. This was one bad quarter in a matchup between two NCAA tournament-bound programs. They both have great defenses, and the Wildcats won out on Wednesday night. But you better believe Illinois is going to come out of the gates hot against Canisius. I feel bad for what is about to happen to them on Monday.