The Illinois basketball team has picked up a good amount of wins so far this campaign. That doesn't mean that head coach Brad Underwood is happy. Underwood bemoaned his team's play, following a 87-73 win over Texas Rio Grande Valley Monday.
“Tonight, we escaped. Didn't shoot the ball very well and still scored close to 90. I thought we were just OK. Defensively, some of these smaller teams give us challenges,” Underwood said, per 247 Sports.
Texas Rio Grande Valley plays in the Southland Conference. The Vaqueros, who are 2-4 on the season, were paced by Kye Dickson's 21 points. UTRGV shot 42 percent from three-point range, but just 50 percent at the foul line.
“Hats off to UTRGV. He's (head coach Kahil Fennell) got them playing really hard. I thought they played harder than we did tonight with a little more focus,” Underwood added.
Illinois basketball is now 6-1 on the season. The Fighting Illini's lone loss is to Alabama.
Illinois looks to return to March Madness once again
Illinois is ranked once again this season, at no. 13 in the Associated Press Top 25. The Fighting Illini have wins this season over Texas Tech, as well as several mid-major programs.
David Mirkovic is one of the team's most valuable players. He is averaging a double-double this season, with 15 points and 10 rebounds a game. He had a 20-20 game already this year.
Underwood was not pleased with Mirkovic's play against the Vaqueros.
“The one thing I'm not going to stand for is not playing hard enough. I was disappointed in Mirk tonight. He played like he practiced yesterday, which was not very good. The opposite of his 20/20 game,” Underwood said.
The Fighting Illini have reached the NCAA tournament regularly under Underwood. In 2024-25, Illinois basketball made it to the Round of 32 before losing to Kentucky. Underwood previously coached at Oklahoma State and Stephen F. Austin.
Illinois next plays UConn on Friday, in a matchup between two Top 25 teams.
