There’s a moment in the classic 1990s flick “A Few Good Men” when prodigious young lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) tells his enthusiastic coworker JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore), “We’re gonna lose, and we’re gonna lose huge,” before the two begin the seemingly impossible defense of two marines charged with murder.

We know how the story ends (and if you somehow don’t, skip ahead to the next paragraph). Against all odds, Kaffee extracts a miraculous confession from the guilty and responsible Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson at his finest) in one of the greatest courtroom scenes of all time.

Prior to the tip of the Illinois-Gonzaga game Saturday night, I felt exactly like Kaffee before his big case, not even daring to hope for anything more than a show.

But by about 11:15 p.m., I was standing there, stunned, Brandon Paul’s high-arcing 3-pointer having just splashed through the net to extend the lead to 12 with 1 minute, 7 seconds left and punctuating his “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH” moment.

There’s little I like less than being proved wrong.

It’s an innate character default, a stubborn switch I can’t turn off. Ask my parents, my roommates or my ex-girlfriend, they’ll be in fervent agreement (but don’t listen to my ex. She’s crazy).

So when the inevitable texts, tweets and emails started rolling in late Saturday night and all of Sunday proclaiming my stupidity for my disbelief in Illinois’ chances at defeating then-No. 10 Gonzaga , I expected to feel a twinge of defensiveness, some embarrassment and maybe fire back a witty response or two (the best I received came Monday morning, was titled “Illini-Gonzaga,” and the body simply read “oops”. Thank you, Sam Beshers, for your kind criticisms).

But for once, I felt none of those things. I was too caught up in the euphoria of Illinois’ impressive 85-74 victory over a superb Gonzaga team. Given the circumstances — the Illini entered the game relatively untested, playing in a hellish road environment against an undefeated opponent — there was nothing else to feel.

It was a remarkable performance, not simply that Illinois was able to win, but how they won. The Zags were essentially a nightmare matchup for the Illini: a well coached team with two skilled 7-footers, an excellent backcourt, depth and quality shooting. And early on in the game, many of the storylines I, and nearly every other basketball pundit, foresaw unfolded as expected.

Gonzaga jumped out to a rapid start, scoring at ease against the smaller Illinois frontcourt. Meanwhile, the Illini were stymied on offense by the Bulldog’s 2-3 zone, missing six of their first seven shots, five of them threes and appearing headed for that off-shooting that seems inevitable for a team that relies so heavily on the jump shot.

Finesse forward Tyler Griffey appeared overmatched and center Nnanna Egwu went to the bench before six minutes passed after picking up two early fouls. The foul trouble theme plagued the Illini the whole game, with Griffey and Egwu fouling out while Illinois’ only other frontcourt player in the regular rotation, Sam McLaurin, finished with four fouls.

But Illinois remained calm, weathering Gonzaga’s size, early game onslaught and foul problems in a way rarely seen with this program in recent years, before clawing back to win (and they even weathered a second half performance by the Gonzaga air guitarist in the process.)

It is a remarkable transformation that first-year coach John Groce has enacted on this team, and it is remarkable to see how the players have responded to him. Last year’s Daily Illini basketball columnist Gordon Voit tweeted following the game that Groce’s work in such a limited time was “just shy of alchemy.”

In under a year’s time, Groce has managed to take Illinois from an afterthought in the Big Ten to the national spotlight. The win at Gonzaga is as impressive a victory as any in college basketball this year. The Illini are ranked No. 10 in both the AP and coaches polls released Monday, the first time they have cracked the top 10 since Dee Brown was running the show. They have the attention of the country and Brandon Paul’s virtuoso 35-point performance has him in the (premature) discussion for Player of the Year.

I don’t know if it can last. The nightmare of last season’s season-ending slide following a 10-0 start still lingers, and the Big Ten schedule still looms dauntingly in the distance.

But the vibe around this team and the aura around Groce feels different and makes me think that high ranking is here to stay.

And for once, it feels good to be wrong.

Daniel is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @danielmillerc.