For the second straight season, Illinois men’s basketball failed to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. After losing to Loyola last season as a No. 1 seed, this year’s No. 4 seed squad fell to Houston, both of which were in the round of 32.

The 2022 Illini had slightly less talent than the 2021 team and dealt with more injuries and suspensions, but were once again seeded as favorites to make it to the Sweet 16. Though the loss on Sunday may have been more expected than in last year’s tournament, it still ended with the same result: underachievement.

In 2021, no one surrounding Illinois expected a loss to No. 8 seed Loyola. Yes, LUC was severely underseeded, but Illinois should have won nonetheless. The Illini seemingly peaked too early last season, and surely beat more competitive teams throughout the year. 

That wasn’t the case this season.

Yes, Illinois won a share of the regular-season Big Ten championship, but they didn’t have a signature win. At the time, the home win over then No. 10 Michigan State without junior All-American center Kofi Cockburn and sophomore guard Andre Curbelo seemed impressive, but by the end of the year, the Spartans weren’t ranked. 

A home win over co-Big Ten champions Wisconsin came the following week, with Illinois controlling the second half and winning by 13. The Badgers earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but weren’t that talented on paper and also faced a disappointing round of 32 loss on Sunday.

Road wins at Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State were impressive, and the types of games you need to win to earn a Big Ten Championship, but they still weren’t signature.

Illinois were 0-2 against Purdue and lost by four points to Arizona, my pick to win the tournament, back in December. The Illini had their chances but never defeated a national-championship contending team.

A first-game loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament, as the No. 1 seed, was one of the ugliest games Illinois played all year. The Illini beat the Hoosiers by 17 in Bloomington back in February, so the loss was even more surprising. Between struggling to score and having troubles guarding the pick and roll, Illinois’ chance to earn a higher seed came to an end.

This led to a No. 4 seed in the South region of the bracket, with a first-round matchup against Chattanooga, the champions of the southern conference. Illinois trailed all game, but the 25 combined seconds they led for were the right ones, as they won the game 54-53. But it wasn’t pretty.

Despite stellar defense, offensive struggles continued. Graduate transfer guard Alfonso Plummer was the only Illini able to hit a three, senior guard Trent Frazier continued his shooting struggles and Cockburn was held down at times. It was messy, but they found a way to win when it was ugly.

Their reward? A game against No. 5 seed Houston, the champions of the American Athletic Champions. Who, by the way, entered as a top-five team in the KenPom rankings. 

Houston’s only quad-one win was against Memphis, so they weren’t as proven as other teams with higher seeds than them. However, as I mentioned, they were ranked highly through the KenPom rankings and have an impressive roster on paper. Tall, strong and athletic with shooters and inside players. They’re good.

The Illini were with them for over 30 minutes of game time, tying the game 40-40 at one point, but eventually the Cougars proved to be too much and won by 15, 68-53. Once again, the offense was an issue. Houston is good defensively, but Illinois’ shooters struggled to hit shots and if it weren’t for freshman guards Luke Goode and RJ Melendez getting real minutes, the game would have seemed over much sooner.

Starting with the good, I think Cockburn played almost as well as he could. He shot 7-7 from the charity stripe, was 6-11 from the field and was good defensively. However, he committed three turnovers when double-teamed and struggled at times to rebound. Houston is one of the best offensive teams in the country, and the Illinois center’s struggles to grab boards was similar to the rest of the team.

Goode and Melendez came in and provided a much-needed spark. Combining for 15 points, each played about 20 minutes. Their defense, energy and ability to score was the reason Illinois stayed in the game, and they made Illini fans even more excited to watch them next season. Extra tip of the cap to their performance after not playing at all against Chattanooga.

Unfortunately, that’s where the good ends. There’s a reason Illinois’ performance was so ugly.

Trent Frazier and fellow fifth-year senior Da’Monte Williams have given it their all for the past five years, but neither played well to end the year. Frazier was able to make one three and finished with eight inefficient points and two turnovers, ending the season on a month-long shooting slump, and Williams didn’t score. Again. 

Houston guard Jamal Shead hit tough shots in the second half over Frazier, and Williams struggled to guard Houston’s bigger wings. When he’s not playing good defense, Williams is a total liability since he gives you almost nothing offensively. He played only 20 minutes.

I love Frazier, but his shooting slump came at the worst time. He was able to get Illinois’ offense going in earlier games this year, but his slump was a major reason Illinois just couldn’t get the offense going the last week of the season. He still left a positive impact on Illinois basketball and deserves all the credit he’s earned. He just finished poorly. The pink eye surely didn’t help.

Plummer has never been good defensively, and once again had an overall poor defensive game against Houston. He scored eight points, also on inefficient shooting. He got good looks, but like Frazier, just couldn’t get something to fall. What an impact Plummer has made this season. Illinois was fortunate to get his final year.

André Curbelo was not good, plain and simple. His 10 minutes came in a row in the first half, and the guard looked his worst. 0-4 from the field, two turnovers and one assist was just not going to cut it. His shots were ugly and the turnovers weren’t good either.

I’m really excited to see what Curbelo can do next year, assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks that keep him out for extended periods of time. When he’s good, he’s one of the best guards in the country. But he just didn’t fit well in the offense against Houston and couldn’t earn second-half minutes.

Sophomore Coleman Hawkins played good defense and started off the game with a three. However, he didn’t hit a shot the rest of the game. Again, he was one of the shooters that couldn’t get into a groove. Regardless, I’m really excited to see what Coleman can improve on in the offseason, because he mainly ended the year well and has wing size that the Illini haven’t had in some time. 

And that’s really it. Senior transfer Jacob Grandison is still hurt, so he barely played and junior Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk played two minutes when Cockburn went out. 

I’ll say this. I’m not disappointed that Illinois lost, but more so how they lost. Houston is great, but the offense being almost invisible outside Cockburn from the starters, from such a veteran team, wasn’t good. You don’t deserve to win when you can’t hit shots. They pulled it off against Chattanooga, but the Cougars are miles better than the Mocs.

This team just didn’t peak. Last year, Illinois peaked at the end of the Big Ten Tournament. They finished the regular season strong, and won three games in the Big Ten Tournament to win the crown. This momentum was not carried over into the NCAA Tournament.

But this team never had their best moment. It seemed that this 2022 Illini team was capable of so much, but someone was always off or a chance for a signature win resulted in a loss. I really believe this team was capable of reaching a Final Four, but I suppose we’ll never know.

When Illinois beat Michigan State at home, Northwestern and Indiana on the road and Wisconsin at home all in a row, analysts began saying that they were contenders for a national championship. That was the closest they came to peaking, but I don’t buy the idea that that was their best. 

Not only did they not peak, but shooters went cold at the worst time. I think that had this team played in the tournament the way they did in that Michigan State through Wisconsin stretch, they would have made at least the Sweet 16. But we’ll never know.

Ultimately, it’s time to start thinking about next season. There is a chance that Brad Underwood loses all five of his primary starters, which would make the team look a heck of a lot different.

Curbelo, Goode, Melendez and Hawkins could all start, and transfer big Dain Dainja will compete with fellow transfer Omar Payne for the starting center spot. I also expect Underwood and crew to be active in the transfer portal once again. Since guards Harris and Jayden Epps, and forward Ty Rodgers make up an impressive recruiting class, it seems like Rodgers should get real playing time right away.

I expect changes to the offensive scheme to fit the players, and since Underwood has shown the ability to change in the past with defense, it’s safe to assume he can change the offense.

This past season was full of ups and downs, excitement and disappointment. Students rushing the floor after claiming a share of the conference championship was one of the coolest things I’ve ever witnessed, and the loss Sunday against Houston was the opposite. Still, I think Underwood will continue to move the program in the right direction.

He has failed to get over the hump of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and he may not get over it next season, but I expect it to come sooner rather than later. 

@JPietsch14

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