No. 11 Illinois knows the postseason awaits despite squandering an opportunity to keep No. 3 Michigan from clinching the Big Ten regular-season title with Friday’s home loss.
As the Fighting Illini prepare for Oregon’s visit to Champaign, Ill., on Tuesday night, some recent NCAA tournament projections pegged Illinois as high as a second seed.
A 14-point loss to the Wolverines doesn’t exactly go with that billing, however. To get there, Fighting Illini coach Brad Underwood knows his team must be tougher.
“I thought the physical punch, the physical fight of the game … (Michigan) brought it to us better than we brought it to them,” Underwood said. “Usually, that means the outcome that was there.
“They’ve got us as a (No. 2) seed. To beat a (No. 1), that physicality, that nastiness, that grit, that fight … that’s on me. That’s not on them. That’s on me. I’ve got to do a much better job of getting us much nastier in those situations.”
Illinois (22-7, 13-5 Big Ten) has lost consecutive games for the second time in three weeks. Friday’s defeat marked the only time in that span that the Illini didn’t lose in overtime.
Freshman standout Keaton Wagler paced Illinois with 23 points and David Mirkovic had a double-double
