Illinois could only flirt with disaster for so long.

In a 67-64 loss against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Illinois’ flaws finally came back to bite them. Illinois won by two points against UNLV and IPFW in consecutive games, and Georgia Tech would once again take the Illini down to the wire.

A nifty post score by Daniel Miller gave Georgia Tech a lead it wouldn’t relinquish with 25 seconds left in the game. Illinois shouldn’t have let this game get close in the first place. Illinois blew two sizeable leads in this game. The first time was when Illinois led 26-17 with 6:23 remaining in the first half. Georgia Tech ended the half on a 19-7 run to take a 36-33 lead at halftime. This is the third straight game Illinois has trailed at the break.

Illinois lost another lead when it charged on a 21-4 run to go up 60-48 with 9:15 left in the game. Illinois didn’t score again until the 1:33 mark and let Georgia Tech end the game on a 19-4 run.

These kinds of offensive droughts have become a trend for the Illini this season. Teams like UNLV and IPFW aren’t going to make you pay for those lapses, but Georgia Tech did. Illinois was constantly passing the ball around the perimeter where they found few open looks down the stretch. Rayvonte Rice was depended on far too often Tuesday.

The reigning Big Ten Player of the Week was terrific yet again. He finished with 24 points in his eighth straight game scoring in double digits. At one point, Rice single-handedly lifted the Illini, going on a personal 8-0 run while scoring 10 straight points for Illinois. The highlight of Rice’s night is when he sent two Georgia Tech defenders flying into the air with a Rajon Rondo-esque ball-fake before scoring an and-1 bucket. As great as Rice was, he too faded in the waning moments of the game.

Really no one else stepped up for the Illini in this one. Joseph Bertrand was second on the team in scoring with 10, but he missed a wide-open 3-pointer in the corner that would’ve given Illinois the lead late. The rest of the team combined for 30 points. Illinois isn’t a good enough defensive team to make up for offense performances like this.

With only Rice and Bertrand acting as a capable scorers off the dribble (Tracy Abrams doesn’t count, not when he shot 1-for-7 and missed consecutive uncontested layups at one point), the Illini were completely lost in the clutch. Rice could only hold the team on his back for so long.

Illinois flashed its potential in this game. During that 21-4 run Illinois dominated on both ends of the floor, but it didn’t last.

A loss at Georgia Tech may not seem earth shattering, but letting a game like this slip away will hurt Illinois down the road. Especially when losses begin to pile up during the grind of the Big Ten season.

Michael is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @The_MDubb.