Illinois basketball blew it against UCLA. Just a complete collapse. Lost another OT game.

The Illini squandered a 23-point first-half lead against the Bruins, who were coming off back-to-back blowout losses to Michigan and Michigan State. After going up 33-10 on a Ben Humrichous three nearly 11 minutes into the first half, the Illini gave up an atrocious 85 points the rest of the way. Ugh.

I saw an idea that said Illinois wins big and loses small. Meaning either the team beats the shit out of opponents or opponents get lucky/hot, and they win by an average of 3 points.

The Illini’s four Big Ten losses have come by a total of nine points, with three of the games going to overtime and two of them — Nebraska being the other one — decided on baskets made at the buzzer. With a little more luck, a very good record could be even stronger.

Time for some good luck to come this way.