Illinois? Second Half Choke Not Surprising

There wasn’t much you could say about the Illini and their fall to top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday afternoon.

It was certainly disappointing.

It was certainly a let down after building a lead.

The one thing you really can’t call it, and we all know it deep down inside, was all that surprising.

There was a lot going on in this game, so let’s put all of the thoughts onto the table.

First and foremost, let’s dispense with the officiating argument. The officials�probably could have called fouls every time Jared Sullinger had the ball, if they wanted to. And yeah, I know, if you go look at my twitter feed…umm…well it contradicts that. For certain. But at the same time, that was the heat of the moment — Looking back on it, the fouls, called or uncalled, were important but not the tipping factor.

The factor was….Demetri McCamey.

For 40 minutes, the Illini played close with Ohio State, and had the Illini received anything from McCamey, they could have won the game. What they received was…ugh.

5 points (on 2-of-11 shooting), 5 assists and four turnovers. If you’re looking for a reason why the Illini lost and why you shouldn’t be surprised, there it is.

It is encouraging that the Illini were able to even keep it this close with the Buckeyes, considering how poorly McCamey played. [More …]

Source: http://www.thesportsbank.net/illinois-illini/illinois-choke-not-surprising/

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