This team is bad for my health. There, I said it; the ‘Fighting Illini’ out of the University of Illinois are one of those teams that knows how to get under my skin. They know how to push my buttons. They KNOW how to send me on a roller coaster of emotion, that more often than not ends in complete sadness.

It’s the absolute WORST, and in last night’s matchup against Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils……Brad Underwood’s squad hit a new low. In a game that I was ACTUALLY looking forward to this week; the former Stephen F. Austin Head Coach’s squad got EMBARRASSED on live television, at the hands of Jon Scheyer and co.

Final: No. 3 Duke 110, Illinois 67

— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 23, 2025

43 POINTS, ladies and gentlemen. The Fighting Illini got SMOKED by 43 POINTS at Madison Square Garden last night, in what was supposed to be one of the biggest games on their schedule this year. They walked out on the court, thinking they would put up a fight against the #3 ranked Blue Devils…..and they got their doors blown CLEAR OFF.

It was a god-awful performance for the navy and orange, who basically forgot how to play basketball throughout the contest. They couldn’t shoot the ball to save their lives, hitting only 37.7% from the field and 7.7% from three. Their leading scorer on the night was Tre White (16 pts.), who has been averaging the 5th most points per game all year for the team. Their long-range sniper, Ben Humrichous, went 0-5 from deep and scored a whopping ZERO points.

Simply put; this team was non-existent in a big prime time spot, and may have just punched their ticket to the NIT tournament with this loss.

I…..I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in this team right now. This is such a blow to the program, and to the season as a whole. The Illini, who are now 17-11 by the way, had all of the momentum in the world going into this season. They did their work during the off-season, landing major pieces to help rebuild a roster that lost A LOT after the 2023-24 season. But without a real leader emerging, like Terrence Shannon Jr. or Ayo Dosunmu; this team has just turned into a group of really great ballplayers with no chemistry/real direction

It’s a sad sight to see, and with only three games left in the season (and two of them being against ranked opponents)…..the future looks bleak for this Illini squad. With this team hanging onto the seventh seed in the Big Ten by a hair, they could easily drop at a moments notice. They could easily take a tumble down the standings, and be forced to go into the tourney with a much lower seed.

Do I want that? Absolutely NOT! But at this point in the season, and with the way they’ve been playing……you might as well expect a limp to the finish line for the big ILL.

Let’s all pray for a decent ending. But in the end…..what do I know? I’m just a guy from the Midwest, with a beer and a laptop, trying to make sense of this world.