INDIANAPOLIS — There was a solid beginning, a sudden slide and a glimpse of a comeback at the end, though it fell short.
That was Illinois' first-round game at the Big Ten tournament on Thursday. That was Illinois' season.
Iowa held on to beat Illinois 64-61 in the tournament's first game and moves on to play top-seeded Michigan State on Friday at noon. The Fighting Illini move towards an uncertain future as a team that started the season 10-0 now stands at 17-15, certainly won't make the NCAA tournament and will be home from the Big Ten tournament before Ohio State and Michigan even have to show up.
Was it Illinois coach Bruce Weber's last Big Ten tournament game? We'll see, but it's never a good sign when the opponent makes the type of run Iowa made to take charge in Thursday's game and nobody who's followed Illinois this season was the least bit surprised to see it coming.
It's tough to tell if the Illini played burdened, but they led by seven just more than three minutes into the second half and trailed by seven just past the midway point of the half. Iowa was the aggressor, and Illinois went stale at both ends. The Illini were just 13-of-34 shooting in the second half, allowing an Iowa team that didn't shoot lights out itself (40 percent for the game) to win after trailing at halftime for just the third time in 14 games this season.
"I don't know," was Weber's response to a postgame question about his immediate future. "I don't even know if we'll be in the NIT, to be honest. So I don't know anything."
Meyers Leonard was 9 of 11 from the field in what might be his last game in an Illini uniform. The lanky-but-gifted, 7-foot-1 sophomore was good in spurts and less than assertive in others, kind of like his team as a whole. Leading scorer Brandon Paul, he of the 43-point performance in the Illini upset of Ohio State way back when, shot 2-of-11 and finished with four points.
"Probably the worst game I've ever played in my life," Paul said.
Illinois didn't attempt a free throw in the game. It wasn't just Leonard who failed to get to the line — nobody got there.
"For us, it's just that gut-check part of the game," Weber said. "We've talked about it, where you get to that brick wall in the game and you've got to make a decision on how bad you want it and how you're going to maintain a lead. But we turned it over. We got killed on (the) boards in the second half, and they made plays."
Iowa's Matt Gatens scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, and freshman Aaron White also hurt the Illini on the block with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. It was the same ending Illinois fans had seen too often during a six-game losing streak and a stretch of nine losses in 10 games after that Ohio State win on Jan. 10. Even in the second week of February, the Illini still seemed an NCAA tournament lock after a home win over Michigan State on Jan. 31.
The only team they've beaten since was Iowa on Feb. 26.
"It's been a very tough situation," Leonard said. "Like Coach Weber always says, we have a great group of kids and a great coaching staff and just a great environment. Obviously we went through a tough stretch with all the losses and just some down moments in the season.
"We definitely showed some great moments with the win against Ohio State. Michigan State was a big win. And early in the season we had some success, but . . . we were just kind of missing that one thing. I'm not really sure what it is, and I still don't know to this day."
A couple of streaks ended Thursday. Illinois was 12-0 in games it led at the half and had won seven straight over Iowa. The Illini came into the season with four new starters but still had hopes of getting to their seventh NCAA tournament in nine years under Weber. They simply crumbled down the stretch, and Thursday was no different.
"Of course there's disappointment," Weber said. "Our guys haven't quit. They hung in there. We just didn't get it done."
