Brad Underwood makes 'irritated' challenge to Illinois after 43-point loss to Duke
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Illinois basketball is spiraling, and Brad Underwood’s frustrations were evident after a historic 110-67 thrashing at the hands of Duke at Madison Square Garden. The Fighting Illini shot just 2-of-26 from 3-point range after missing their first 17 attempts from deep for the game. The 43-point loss is the worst in program history.
Underwood simply couldn’t believe how bad his team’s 3-point shooting was on Saturday, continuing a disappointing trend this season. The Illinois basketball coach issued a challenge to his players about the shooting after the ugly loss.
“I don’t want to make a huge deal out of it, but it’s starting to become a point of irritation for me because we do it in practice. Man the hell up, jump up and shoot the thing in like you know what you’re doing and what you were recruited to do. It’s basically what I told the team after the game. Just make five. Thirty-two percent in the first half, which is below average, and it’s a two-point game. Just really simple.”
Against Duke, Illinois basketball shot 15-of-18 on 2-pointers in the first half but went 0-of-16 from 3-point land. Couple the terrible 3-point shooting with putrid defense and the result was a 17-point deficit at the break. The wheels then totally fell off for the Fighting Illini in the second half.
Brad Underwood has encouraged his Illinois basketball team to get plenty of 3-pointers up this season, but now he’s just totally befuddled by the lack of success from long distance.
“I’m shocked,” Underwood said. “I don’t know. Maybe we’re not tough enough to shoot ’em and make ’em. We’re tough enough to shoot ’em. I just don’t know if we’re tough enough to make ’em. We light it up in practice. I am the biggest pro-3-point guy in America, probably me and [Alabama coach] Nate Oats. Shoot ’em. We make ’em. I just keep waiting — and we’ve made 15 multiple times. The furthest reaches of my wit, I never expected that. I thought we’d be a mid-to-high 30s team. I still believe in these guys, but we’ve got to find a way.”
The Fighting Illini have stunk it up from 3-point range despite ranking nearly the top of the country attempts. Illinois basketball is eighth in 3-point attempts per game (30.1) but just 340th in percentage (30.5%). In Big Ten play, they’re first in the conference in attempts and last in percentage.
The Fighting Illini looked like a possible national title contender earlier this season, but the bad 3-point shooting, injuries and illness have contributed to what’s turning into a massively disappointing campaign. While this Illinois basketball team should still make the NCAA Tournament, they could find themselves on the bubble depending on how things go over the next few weeks.
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