Slipped Away: Illinois' Season Ends in NCAA Tournament Loss to Kentucky

When it was all over, at the end of a promising season that was interspersed with injuries, intrigue, illness and brilliance, the 2024-25 Illini were able to say they had done it their way: with their hair on fire and by the seat of their pants.

Was it worth it?

In Sunday's NCAA Tournament second-round matchup at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, sixth-seeded Illinois took its measure against its SEC doppelganger and third-seeded Kentucky and simply came up short in a 84-75 season-ending defeat.

For whatever it was worth, the Illini (22-13) died as they lived for the vast majority of the season, chucking iffy three-point shots, handing out extra possessions like Halloween candy and stubbornly sticking to their guns even while endlessly firing blanks.

Illinois shot 9-for-32 (28.1 percent) on three-pointers, committed 14 turnovers that Kentucky turned into 26 points and allowed Wildcats shooters to routinely come off screens unimpeded for squeaky-clean looks. Kentucky (24-11) shot 47.1 percent as a team and got excellent performances from Koby Brea (23 points), Lamont Butler (14 points) and Amari Williams (eight points, 10 rebounds and six assists) on a day when leading scorer Otega Oweh (15 points) didn't quite have his fastball.

The trouble for the Illini began with a raft of turnovers and poor shot selection that turned an early lead into a 13-5 hole. Center Tomislav Ivisic hit a pair of threes and set up a handful of buckets for teammates to keep the Wildcats from sprinting too far ahead, but as was too often the case this season, the Illini went away from their big man when the offense so clearly has functioned best through him.

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Despite committing eight turnovers in the first half, the Illini found themselves down only 37-32 thanks to Ivisic and an inspired effort by guard Kylan Boswell, whose balletic wrecking-ball style couldn't be contained by Kentucky. Boswell had 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting – and was a key figure in holding Oweh to two points on 1-for-3 shooting at the break.

But the Wildcats, after routinely shaking free of Illini defenders of high screen-and-roll in the first half, annihilated Illinois' drop coverage by starting the second half on a 10-for-11 bender from the field. Six were layups or dunks as the Illini picked up the ball too late – or not at all – off ball screens. Frankly, though, it was all working for UK, and when Brea canned a jumper to make it 57-42 with 14:14 left to play, it looked like a wrap.

Credit to the Illini, though, for never backing down (even if they refused to back off certain strategies that have come up empty against elite competition all season). Boswell iced a three, then assisted to Ivisic and Kasparas Jakucionis on deep balls of their own. Suddenly, Kentucky's lead was back inside single digits with almost 12 minutes to play.

Yet Brea and his outside stroke were irrepressible, and the Wildcats guard alternated jumpers and threes over the next few minutes, outscoring the Illini 10-3 on his own and expanding UK's lead again, to 70-54.

Illinois dug in once more, redoubling its defensive efforts and discovering – as if for the first time – offensive areas to be explored inside 22 feet. A gorgeous, spinning reverse layup from Tre White. A two-handed jam from Morez Johnson Jr. An tip-in by Jakucionis. With 1:36 remaining, a Boswell jumper cut the Wildcats' edge to 74-68.

But the turnovers had piled up, the rushed and off-balance three-point attempts had clanked one too many times, and even the steady hand at the free-throw line – Illinois sank 18 without a miss just two nights ago – had escaped the Illini. Boswell finished with 23 points and Ivisic 19 as the lights dimmed on each player's first season in Champaign.

The campaign will undoubtedly feel like a lost one for Illinois fans in the days ahead, but this can't be denied: The 2024-25 Illini were the most entertaining group the program has seen since the 1988-89 Flying Illini. How many of them will return to run it back next season is an open question – and largely up to the eagerness of NBA scouts and executives.

Will Riley, Jakucionis and likely even Ivisic will draw looks from the pros, and given college basketball's current NIL climate and a general tendency toward player movement under coach Brad Underwood, Illinois may find itself all but starting over again in 2025-26.

In the meantime, Kentucky will move on to face second-seeded Tennessee in the Sweet 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this Friday.

Slipped Away: Illinois' Season Ends in NCAA Tournament Loss to Kentucky

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