February 27, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini coach Brad Underwood greets the crowd prior to halftime against the Michigan Wolverines at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images No. 11 Illinois knows the postseason awaits despite wasting a chance to prevent No. 3 Michigan from claiming the Big Ten regular-season title with a home loss Friday.
As the Fighting Illini prepare for Oregon’s visit to Champaign, Ill., on Tuesday night, some recent NCAA Tournament predictions have Illinois as high as a second seed.
But a 14-point loss to the Wolverines doesn’t exactly fit that bill. To get there, Fighting Illini coach Brad Underwood knows his team will have to be tougher.
“I thought the physical punch, the physical fighting of the game brought something better to us than what we brought to them,” Underwood said. “Usually it means the result of being there.
“They got us as a (No. 2) seed. (No. 1), that physicality, that nastiness, that grit, to win that fight… that’s up to me. That’s not up to them. That’s up to me. I’ve got to do a much better job of putting ourselves in those situations and making it a lot worse.”
Illinois (22-7, 13-5 Big Ten) suffered its second straight loss in three weeks. Friday’s loss was the only time the Illini did not lose in overtime during that span.
Freshman standout Keaton Wagler paced Illinois with 23 points and David Mirkovic had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Still, Illinois’ Kylan Boswell called Michigan’s defensive pressure “elite” and Underwood felt he was letting his team become complacent and wanted more from him.
“It always catches you at some point,” Underwood said. “It’s a slap in the face and it doesn’t feel very good. I don’t like to say things like that about my team very often.”
Oregon (11-18, 4-14) is hoping to shake off similar feelings after Saturday’s 63-62 loss at Northwestern. The Wildcats’ Nick Martinelli scored the winning basket with 1.8 seconds left after a layup rolled around the rim and stunned the Ducks.
“Martinelli does what he does,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said of the league’s top scorer.
Wei Lin put Oregon ahead 62-61 with a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left as the Ducks went on a streak with the Wildcats, who trailed by 12 points early in the second half.
Nate Bittle led Oregon with 19 points and Kwame Evans Jr. had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Evans has four double-doubles this season, including in the Big Ten loss in overtime at Rutgers on Jan. 5.
The Ducks are aiming to avoid appearing in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, which begins March 10 in Chicago. But Saturday’s loss plummeted their odds of finishing as a No. 14 seed or higher to 2 percent, according to a report from The Oregonian that cited Big Ten Network research.
A win at Northwestern would have improved that number to 45%.
Both Illinois and Oregon ranked in their first meeting as Big Ten foes for the schools last season, with the No. 9 Ducks hosting the No. 22 Illini on Jan. 2, 2025. Illinois jumped out to a 109-77 lead and took a 5-2 lead overall in the series.
Wagler has scored in double figures in 21 consecutive games for Illinois.
–Field level media
