Northwestern 66 Illinois 54: Our Team Their State

This was a must win game. It's only January 17th and we're 14-4, but this was a must win game.

This was a must win game because of our last two losses.

This was a must win game because we needed to put fears of a collapse to rest.

This was a must win game because after the Nebraska game we get Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota.

This was a must win game because it was against Northwestern. A team we're supposed to be better than.

This was a must win game and we lost.

This was a must win game and we never had a lead.

This was a must win game.

Other Thoughts

-- What was a bigger hoax? Manti Te'o's girlfriend or the Illini starting out the season 12-0? I knew we weren't as good as our start nor our top 10 ranking. However, I didn't think we were nearly as bad as we appear to be.

-- It's a good thing we just keep jacking up threes. I mean, we haven't hit them in over a month, and we were 3-for-20 tonight. So better make sure they continue to make up 40% of our attempts like they did tonight.

-- Honestly, what the fuck is there to say? We can't beat Northwestern at football and we can't beat them at basketball either. This basketball season is morphing into the football season all over again. There is no joy in Mudville.

-- We won the rebound battle! High five!