NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
Illinois walked into a sold-out arena in Lubbock on Tuesday as the No. 3 team in the country and left with a loss. The Illini trailed Texas Tech 49-29 at halftime, rallied to within one point late in the second half, and still fell 84-78. Afterward, head coach Brad Underwood spoke without a filter about what went wrong, and his message was blunt.
“We didn’t come out with the intensity we needed to start the game. That’s not good,”Underwood said in his postgame press conference.
Advertisement
“But at least they identify it, and now we can identify that. In the second half you see a different team. I don’t think we’ve been very violent in our drives. I don’t think we’ve been violent in our pickup points and aggressive in our pickup points. I don’t think we’ve been very, very, very good on the glass. Our physicality has been atrocious,” he added.
The start explains the frustration. Texas Tech jumped on Illinois from the opening tip and built a 49-29 lead by halftime, hitting 18-of-38 shots. The Illini turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, 16 overall, and lost the rebounding battle 23-15 before the break.
When a coach doesn’t hold back, you know a loss stung. Subscribe to stay on top of Illinois basketball’s path forward and the hard truths shaping their season.
Underwood called the first half “nauseating” and said he was disgusted by how his team played.
Advertisement
The glass was the biggest surprise. Texas Tech ranks 299th in the country in average height, and Illinois ranks 10th, yet the Red Raiders won the boards 43-32. They grabbed 18 offensive rebounds on 39 missed shots, a rate that would have led the nation last season, and the only player over 6-foot-6 to play more than 15 minutes for them was 6-foot-8 Jamichael Stillwell.
Illinois had led the country in rebounding margin coming in. Brad Underwood said his team talked about rebounding for three days beforehand.
Illinois also played without preseason first-team All-American David Mirkovic and Jake Davis, its best…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/atrocious-brad-underwood-offers-no-012808571.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-11-13 01:28:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
