Heartbreak, Illini Style

As I hinted at in yesterday's piece, everyone with a glimpse of sanity in their heads knew that the Hoosiers were the far superior basketball team. Better players. Better athletes. Better coach. Nothing new there. However, throughout the entire first half — one in which superstar Eric Gordon was limited to one point — it felt damn good to be a member of Illini nation. They came right out of the gate with unbelievable intensity and played hungry for the first time all season. Illinois wanted to hand it to Kelvin Sampson, the man who ruined their season before it even started. They wanted to make Gordon regret his jackass decision to renege on a verbal commitment and allow himself to be illegally recruited by Indiana. And for the first twenty minutes, the impossible looked to be a reality. The Indianapolis native was completely rattled via the hatred and frustration from 18,000 screaming Illini fans alike. The freshman had lost all composure and looked like a whining infant on the court full of grown ups..