Purdue was expected to be one of the top teams in the Big Ten this year. Illinois was not.But after the two teams played 45 minutes of hard-fought basketball Tuesday night, with the Illini finally pulling out a 71-67 overtime win, it's clear that Illinois coach Bruce Weber has the kind of team that is going to be tough for everyone in the Big Ten to beat.
The Illini, who led most of the way at Purdue, looked like they were going to fade when they fell behind by four points early in the overtime period. But Purdue coach Matt Painter had a good description of what the Illini did in the final minutes.
From the Sun-Times:
''Illinois' ball control was the key to the game,'' said Purdue coach Matt Painter, whose Boilermakers (11-3, 0-1) lost for only the fourth time in their last 43 games at Mackey Arena. ''When we opened the overtime with that 4-0 run and they came back and really zapped us, that also took a lot out of us.''
The Illini really did zap the Boilermakers down the stretch. This Illinois team is nowhere near as talented as the one that was in the Final Four a few years ago, but it's also miles ahead of where the Illini were last year. I think they're going to zap a lot of Big Ten opponents this season.
