Meltdown Leaves Illini On NCAA Bubble

The Illini blew a 12-point lead in the second half to lose to Michigan and leave themselves, once again, at the whims of the NCAA Selection Committee.

The Illini were in disarray over the last 8 minutes of the game. They refused to push the ball inside, they stood around watching each other dribble, no one took matters into their own hands and drove to the basket, and, in a dazzling display of team ineptitude, Jereme Richmond, a freshman with one made three pointer during Big Ten conference play, was set up for a key three-pointer in the final minute. This on a team with four senior starters.

Jereme also had the ball in the last seconds and, down 5 with about 6 seconds to play, inexplicably passed up a three pointer and passed to Demetri McCamey who wasn't ready for the pass. The ball bounced to a Michigan player and the meltdown was complete.

More painful news came later in the day when Penn St. beat Wisconsin in one of the worst-played games in basketball history, and Virginia Tech beat Florida St. when the refs waved off FSU's apparent game-winning shot in the final second. Penn St. and Va Tech are competing with the Illini for the last available spots in the NCAA tourney. The results were doubly worse because Va Tech beat PSU earlier in the season, and that win now gives Va Tech another RPI top-5o win because PSU moved into the top-5o with its win over Wisconsin.

Of course the Illini also have a win over Penn St. so factor that in as you will.

The whole situation would be humorous if it wasn't so infuriating.