There’s no way to sugar-coat what happened Thursday night. It was a really bad Braggin’ Rights loss.
But the season is far from over, and an eventual recovery to their earlier form could put the Illini back in contention for a Big Ten title and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
There’s really not much point in dwelling on the game last night. It’s over, and bad losses to bitter rivals happen. All that’s important now is how the team responds to the coaching staff and regroups for the rest of the season.
In other words, the season is at an inflection point.