Sunday, February 20, 2011

Back to Form: Illini Play Close Game, Lose

As I predicted, Illinois was unable to gain any momentum after their close win over Michigan on Wednesday. At least the Illini put forth a good effort tonight at the Breslin Center (the kind of effort that would have easily carried them to wins at Indiana, Penn State, or Northwestern), but effort alone doesn't count any more. Wins do, and this one ended up as a 61-57 loss. The game was right there for the taking - tied with under 4:00 to go - but like so many other times this year, the Illini couldn't execute at either end of the floor in the final minutes.

And with that, the Illini's last realistic chance for a road win goes by the boards, which means that we're looking at a best-case scenario of a 9-9 conference record, which is about as mediocre and bubblicious as you can get. It also means that we'll probably need to win a game in the Big Ten Tournament to be sure of an NCAA tournament bid. How I miss the good old days, when I could relax and enjoy the Big Ten Tournament as the Illini used it as a tune-up for the NCAA tournament.

Bruce Weber - making your Selection Sunday nerve-wracking since 2007!

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