Until last week, Brad Underwood’s Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team seemed unstoppable. They were on one of the most dominant runs seen this season so far and appeared invincible against certain teams.
After losing to Nebraska mid-December last year, Illinois went on a 12-game unbeaten run. That streak was broken against the Michigan State Spartans last week as they fell 82-85 in overtime.
Today, the Illinois Fighting Illini went against the number eight-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at home. At the end of the first half, they were leading 44-38. The Badgers bounced back in the second half and sent the game into overtime.
The number two-ranked Big Ten team looked prepared to beat Wisconsin, but the officiating inconsistencies got in their way. The Illini ended up losing 90-92, making it their back-to-back loss after going on an unbeaten 12-game run.
At the post-game presser, head coach Brad Underwood was fuming. He blasted the game officials and ended up walking out of the press conference after his answer.
“It’s egregious. I don’t know what to do with it… I’m frustrated as heck. It changes SO much game-to-game. We had a (ref) tonight, we haven’t had in two years. Two years,” he said.
Keaton Wagler led the team in scoring and assists, dropping 34 points in 44 minutes with seven assists and a rebound. All the Illini starters scored in double digits, with center Tomislav Ivišić dropping a double-double, 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Underwood called out the “egregious” out-of-bound play in overtime that set the platform for Wisconsin to seal the victory. The coach was so heated after his answer that he decided to simply walk out, as he was very “frustrated” over the decisions made by officials.
Brad Underwood Praised His Players
As per Underwood, his players didn’t make mistakes that contributed to the loss. In his opinion, the Illini played really well and stayed competitive throughout the game. It wasn’t their fault that they suffered back-to-back losses.
He did outline that his team had 13 turnovers, nine more than Wisconsin. Other than that, he didn’t find any problem with the way his players performed.
“Really proud of our guys,” he said. “Tough one to lose. Really off script for us with 13 turnovers, most we’ve had in league play. Then just a very poor night on the offensive glass. Very seldom do you shoot 53 percent and lose.”
Illinois shot 53% from the field, 45% from the three-point line, and just 58% from the charity stripe. In comparison, Wisconsin shot 43%, 44%, and 71%, respectively.
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