Illinois strung together five straight wins in late December and early January. Since then, No. 23 Illinois (15-8, 7-6 Big Ten) is just 3-5, with its latest misstep coming Wednesday in an 82-73 loss at Rutgers (12-11,

Illinois men’s basketball suffered a loss to Rutgers on Wednesday, 82-73. The Illini trailed by 17 just over ten minutes into the game, but narrowed the deficit to just eight points at halftime. Illinois stormed back to take the lead with 13:06 left in the game.

It just wouldn’t be Illinois sports without an emotional push and pull, right? In a game where Illinois started slow, played their best and then finished slow, the Illini fell 82-73 to Rutgers. The loss is Illinois’ worst in the NET rankings this season.