Illinois basketball is in a dark place right now, as the Duke Blue Devils just thrashed us in Madison Square Garden.
When you actually watch the game, you can tell it was one of the worst performances in program history. Duke had a 17-point halftime lead, and it honestly felt like the Illini were in a good position. That is how bad things had gotten.
No, Duke did not let off the gas pedal in the second half. In fact, they shifted into another gear. Instead of letting Illinois think we could get back in the game, the Blue Devils beat us by even more in the second half, extending the lead to a final score of 110-67.
If that sounds like a wide margin, well, it is. Illinois lost by 43 points against Duke. That is the biggest loss in program history.
According to the Illinois basketball record book, the previous high was against Indiana back in February 1974. The Hoosiers beat us 107-67. So, we beat that ugly record by three points on Saturday night.
Brad Underwood has a couple of Illinois basketball marks that are less than impressive on his resume
It is painful to watch the Illini go through such a rough stretch. This is the worst the team has looked since before the pandemic.
Brad Underwood has taken Illinois to great heights during his coaching tenure. We just went to the Elite 8. The program has also won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. The run with Underwood has been pretty special.
On the flip side, Underwood has had a couple of ugly marks during his time in Champaign. The most recent is the largest margin of defeat in program history. Setting that record is not a good look.
Underwood’s 2018-19 campaign was also pretty ugly. Illinois was 12-21 with a 36.4% winning percentage. That is the fifth-worst winning percentage in program history.
I am not giving up on Underwood, as we have had some great moments. But let’s also not ignore the fact there have been some pretty big blunders during his coaching tenure.