Illinois-Xavier: For Illini, NCAA stage is the new normal

MILWAUKEE — They wore sparkling white uniforms. Their orange-and-blue-clad supporters showed up ready to roar. Illinois’ men’s basketball team was in the house Friday for an NCAA Tournament first-round game against Xavier, and it looked, sounded and smelled like a big deal.

Because it was, of course.

Illinois on the Big Dance floor has become the new normal — and also the old normal — and it’s a beautiful thing.

The Illini have made it to five tournaments in a row, and the number would be six if not for the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the 2020 postseason. Coach Brad Underwood has put a streak together that positions him to challenge Lou Henson’s school-record run of eight straight tournaments, from 1983 to 1990. The Illini also got to eight straight tournaments from 2000 to 2007, but Bill Self and Bruce Weber shared the accomplishment.

“This means a lot,” Underwood said here Thursday. “It’s really hard to do. Getting to postseason play is not easy. I sure don’t take it for granted.”

But Illini fans never quite fell in love with this particular team, for a lot of reasons. Not yet, anyway. Of course, some March magic would change that in a big way.

There were illnesses and injuries that stole momentum from individual players and, at times, stunted the development of chemistry. Much-ballyhooed freshmen Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionius performed unevenly, the former struggling early on with the physicality of the Big Ten and the latter leading the conference in turnovers. The Illini couldn’t score a signature win against Alabama, Tennessee or Duke, went 0-for-4 against the Big Ten’s best, Michigan State and Maryland, and were a .500 team (9-9) over two and a half months leading into the NCAAs.

And then there’s the biggest factor of all: Illini fans have gotten used to their basketball teams being damn good again. They’ve tasted recent Big Ten championships. A year ago, they tasted the Elite Eight.

Wherever the floor is now in terms of expectations, this season’s Illini definitely didn’t rise above it.

Going backward isn’t an option.

Or as Underwood said the day he arrived in Champaign in 2017, “Losing is not an option.”

Underwood entered the tournament with a winning percentage of .621 in eight seasons at Illinois. Xavier was the 10th tournament opponent faced by Illinois on his watch. After missing the tournament four times in five years under John Groce, and in three of the last five seasons under Weber before that, the Illini have come far enough with Underwood that — even if his in-game coaching still rankles some watchers — his time at the school can only be viewed as both highly successful and highly significant.

This is the Big Ten’s winningest program in conference play over the last six seasons, and the only one with six straight winning conference records. Nationally, Illinois is one of only four schools with six straight 20-win seasons.

“I’ve had a great staff, great support,” Underwood said. “There’s a lot of things that go into that. I’m pretty blessed that we’ve had a lot of things and a lot of really good people help us along the way.”