Illini tie record for futility
March 7, 2008
John Brumbaugh
It seems far off, but it wasn’t that long ago that a Michigan State-Illinois game was a special event with a lot on the line — the Big Ten title, home winning streaks, rankings, seedings, ”SportsCenter” highlights.There wasn’t anything like that when the Illini hosted the 17th-ranked Spartans on Thursday. Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin didn’t even bring Erin Andrews.
The Illini opened an early 10-point lead but were unable to sustain their momentum and fell 59-51 to the Spartans, who won for the first time in five trips to Assembly Hall.
With the defeat, Illinois (12-18, 4-13) locked up the No. 10 seed in the Big Ten tournament, which begins Thursday in Indianapolis. Its most likely first opponent is Iowa.
Read more from the Chicago Sun Times.