Illinois basketball -- a decade to remember

By Greg Taylor

[February 03, 2009]  Illinois is off to a very surprising and exciting 18-4 start to the year, including a 6-3 first half of the Big Ten conference season. At present time, the Illini are tied with Minnesota and Penn State for third place in the conference, just one game behind Michigan State and just a half game behind Purdue. To call this season an unexpected blessing would be the understatement of the year. However, last Thursday's stinker at the Barn in Minneapolis caught our attention for a couple of reasons: First, Illinois lost to Minnesota for the first time since the Clem "I'm cheatin' like a big dog" Haskins era. Second, the game was so contrary to what we've witnessed this year in terms of execution and effort. But, finally, and most interesting, we have been blessed in Illini-land with very few blowout losses in recent memory, even during the struggles of last season.

In the past 10 seasons (counting the current year), the Illini have only lost 11 times by 16 points or more. That is basically just one very large loss per season and is really an incredible statistic considering how often good teams lose by large margins. During this same period of time, Illinois beat an opponent by 16 points or more 102 times, including 36 times in conference play and 10 times in the postseason (conference tourney and NCAA tourney). So with that in mind, we look at back today at these 11 losses and the circumstances surrounding them. And as you read this, be thankful you are not a Hawkeye (Iowa), Hoosier (Indiana) or Tiger (Missouri) fan -- teams that lose by large margins much more often.

So let's look at these 11 games, one by one, and at the same time realize what a special decade it has been for Illinois hoops:

Eleven largest Illinois losses in the last 10 seasons
('99-'00 through present)

31 points: Jan. 26, 2002
Illinois loses at Indiana 88-57

IU coach Mike Davis' best team at Indiana rained down 3s on Illinois, and this game was over early. Tom Cloverdale (four 3s), Dane Fife (six 3s) and Kyle Hornsby (five 3s) and crew couldn't be stopped, hitting 17-of-27 long bombs in the blowout. Illinois would get revenge in a chippie game at Champaign one month later, but they had no answers for guys with candy-stripe warm-ups (we still don't get that, by the way). This IU team made it all the way to the national title game before losing to Maryland in Atlanta.

25 points: Jan. 30, 2000
Illinois loses at Michigan State 91-66

Mateen Cleaves, Mo Peterson and crew literally ran over Illinois and beat them into submission on their way to the 2000 national title. The Spartans outrebounded Illinois 41-16 and Michigan State benefited from balanced scoring all around. We ran into referee Ted Hillary (who worked the Illinois-Michigan State game) at the St. Louis airport Hilton three nights later, and he was still amazed at the Spartan domination, sharing, "They might just win it all this year." Dare we call him Ted the prophet?

23 points: Jan. 29, 2009
Illinois loses at Minnesota 59-36

Ugly offense from the beginning and the Gophers snap a 20-game Illini win streak. As one Illini player put it after the game, "We stunk early, we stunk late, and we stunk in between." No one reached double figures for the Illini, a statement in itself. Not since 1985 had an Illinois team scored so few points in a game (when Illinois lost at Purdue 54-34). Illinois struggled to match the Minnesota intensity and, for the first time this season, appeared to give up late.

20 points: Jan. 24, 2004
Illinois loses at Wisconsin 76-56

This blowout loss at the Kohl Center dropped Illinois to 3-3 in the conference during Bruce Weber's first year in C-U. Ten days earlier, Illinois had lost by double digits on the road at Northwestern, of all places. Devin Harris scored 24 and Mike Wilkinson scored 20 to counter Roger Powell's 20-point effort. Little did we know at the time that the Illini would win the conference outright at 13-3 after 10 straight regular-season wins and build momentum for the magical '04-'05 year.

19 points: Dec. 9, 2003
Illinois loses to Providence at NYC 70-51

The major meltdown in the Big Apple had fans wondering if Weber was the right man for the job. Illinois actually led by six points at the break but was outscored 46-21 in the second half at Madison Square Garden. The mock "Bill Self funeral" took place two days later, the same night star Deron Williams suffered a broken jaw and propelled lots of Internet overreaction. Insiders say serious friction existed between Weber and at least one key sophomore who wasn't exactly "buying in" to the system or the coach.

18 points: Jan. 6, 2007
Illinois loses at home to Ohio State 62-44

Freshmen Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and crew dominated Illinois in Champaign-Urbana for the worst home loss since Lou Henson's first season at Illinois (83-55 loss to '76 national champ Indiana). That would be 31 years, for all you math majors in LDN-land. Illinois shot just 24 percent from the field and made just 3-of-23 long-range shots, while the Buckeyes had four players score in double figures and Oden grabbed 15 rebounds. The Ohio State University team would make it all the way to the national title game in '07 before succumbing to Florida.

17 points: Jan. 27, 2007
Illinois loses at Purdue 64-47

The Warren Carter and Rich McBride-led team could not hang with Matt Painter's second Purdue squad and the game got out of hand late. David Teague scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Boiler victory. Junior Shaun Pruitt paced Illinois with 13 points and 11 rebounds. This season would become a late-season soap opera after the Jamar Smith DUI incident two weeks later, and Illinois would barely make the NCAA tournament and lose to Virginia Tech by two after leading most of the game.

17 points: March 14, 2004
Illinois loses to Wisconsin in Big Ten tournament final 70-53

Going into this game, Illinois had won 12 straight games and was the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. However, the Badgers handled Weber's first squad at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy, and the Illini had to settle for a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tourney. Devin Harris' 29 points were too much for Illinois, and their double-digit win streak was no more.

17 points: March 19, 2000
Illinois loses to Florida in the NCAA tourney 93-76

Florida struggled to win their first game of the 2000 NCAA tournament, needing a garbage shot at the buzzer against Butler. The Gators did everything right in their second-round game against Illinois and their former coach Lon Kruger, beating the Illini badly in Winston-Salem. Corey Bradford's 27 points weren't nearly enough. Florida went all the way to the national title game before losing to Michigan State. This would turn out to be Kruger's last game at Illinois, as the popular coach left for the NBA and the Atlanta Hawks two months later.

16 points: Jan. 3, 2008
Illinois loses at home to Ohio State 74-58

On the night of the Iowa caucuses and the beginning of the Year of Obama, Illinois lost at home to an average Ohio State team in the conference opener for both squads. Jamar Butler lit up the Illini with 32 points, as Illinois made just 4-of-21 shots from beyond the arc. This would mark the worst of 19 losses during the forgettable '07-'08 Illini campaign.

16 points: Feb. 12, 2006
Illinois loses at Ohio State 69-53

Dee Brown's last Illini quintet was still stinging from an unbelievable one-point home loss to Penn State in their previous game and failed to get off the bus in Columbus. Center Terrance Dials destroyed Illinois with 19 points and 16 rebounds, as James Augustine's double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds) was not nearly enough. Illinois limped to the finish in '06, losing in the quarterfinals of the conference tourney for the first time ever and losing to Washington in the second round of the NCAA tourney.

So what can we take from this history lesson? Just the reminder that it has been a really prosperous decade for Illini hoops -- the boys in orange winning 102 games by 16 points or more, and losing just 11 by the same margin. The conference results are even more impressive -- winning 36, and losing just eight by the 16 or greater rule. It makes me wonder if any other Big Ten conference team could claim similar statistical results during the past decade of basketball.

[By GREG TAYLOR]