CHAMPAIGN — Illinois hit rock bottom Friday night in a lackluster 25-point loss at Wisconsin. On Monday at home against Michigan State, the Illini chipped a little bit away to try to find their way out of that dark space at the bottom of the Big Ten.
The Illini played with more aggression, fighting back from an 18-point deficit, but still fell 87-74 to No. 6 Michigan State at State Farm Center.
And there they still are. The only team without a conference victory in the Big Ten.
Illinois (10-11, 0-8) matched their worst Big Ten record since an 11-game season in 1906-07, their second in existence.
“The name Fighting Illini, that was us tonight,” coach Brad Underwood said. “Compared to what I watched Friday night, it was different. We have to grow. We have to understand that’s the way the game’s played. Am I happy about the loss? Never. And I don’t accept losing. But I’ll put my head on a pillow at some point tonight and at least have a little comfort in the guys.”
Underwood’s toughest job — maybe tougher than finding a Big Ten victory somewhere this season — is keeping the players from feeling discouraged, from realizing the mismatch in talents many nights on the court between them and conference opponents.
“That’s my job,” he said of keeping the players from being deflated. “I take a lot of pride in getting them to fight. Discouragement is a killer of any program. … You have to challenge yourself every day with that. How can I preach it if I don’t live it? I want what the team we played tonight has. I want those type of players committed and playing that dang hard. There’s not one thing that’s going to deter me from doing that.”
The Illini’s 25 forced turnovers against Michigan State (18-3, 6-2) were the Spartans’ most since they had 27 in 2005. Yet how does a team force that many errors and take a double-digit loss?
A few reasons: The Spartans shot 68.2 percent, including 78.9 percent in the first half. They outrebounded Illinois 37-15 as Leron Black fouled out without a single rebound. They had 10 dunks and made 13 of 15 layups.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 21 points with 11 rebounds and six blocks, while Miles Bridges scored a team-high 31 points on 11 of 13 shooting.
“Those are two lottery picks, not to demean our side but we don’t have two lottery picks,” Underwood said. “I’m fighting for our culture every day. Sometimes the process means the other team has more points. But there are nights when you feel better about who you’ve become.”
A point of progress was Kipper Nichols’ career-high 27 points. But Mark Alstork had no assists and four turnovers and shot 1 of 6. Mark Smith was quiet again with six points and two assists. Aaron Jordan shot 0-for-2.
The players had a helpful team meeting to “clear the air” after losing to Wisconsin, Nichols said.
“It’s baby steps,” Underwood said.
And it’s still a long way to go for the Illini.
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