Illinois Basketball Struggles on Defense in Cincinnati Win

There was no shortage of stats or storylines that spilled out of Illinois’ 105-96 exhibition win at Cincinnati on Saturday. Most of them sparked excitement for what’s to come in the Illini’s 2026-27 season.

But one of them was discouraging – and it’s a very big one: defense. It is, of course, half the game. Although Illinois appears to have the capability to outscore a vast majority of opponents, it still has to get a bare minimum of stops on the other end.

And come March, the competition only gets stronger. Elevating a team’s floor – which is the difference between a Sweet 16 and a national title – all starts with defense. So should the Illini be concerned?

Should Illinois basketball be worried about its defense after Cincinnati game?

Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood reacts against the Connecticut Huskies in the second half during a semifinal of the Final Four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The short answer: not at all. Sure, Cincinnati put up 96 points. And, yes, Tylen Riley – 31 points and 13 assists – did bring back all of those unsavory memories of opposing guards cutting through the Illini defense in 2025-26 like a hot knife through butter.

Cincinnati hit 12 threes, shooting 36.4 percent from that range. It scored 42 points in the paint. The Bearcats managed 12 second-chance points and turned the ball over only 10 times – the latter of which is an almost extraordinary number for an exhibition game.

So why aren’t we concerned? Well, first, there’s this from coach Brad Underwood in his postgame press conference:

“We didn’t scout. We talked personnel. But we didn’t talk about X’s and O’s.”

Underwood said ahead of the exhibition contest that he wanted to see how his team responded. He wanted to see if – and to what extent – they had internalized Illinois’ defensive principles. He wasn’t concerned with devising an ingenious game plan to shut down Cincy's scorers.

Essentially, it was a glorified pick-up game – kind of what an exhibition game should be. They are an opportunity for a coach and staff to learn more about their team and challenge their players.

Take this: Michigan, which won the national title and had the best defense in the country last season, fell in an exhibition matchup against, of all teams, Cincinnati. That game was in Ann Arbor. The Bearcats scored 100 points.

Again, the Wolverines finished with the No. 1 defense in the nation (per KenPom). Guess where the Bearcats ranked? They had the No. 132 offense in the country and wound up missing the NCAA Tournament. In other words, take those first-game-exhibition results with a mountain of salt.

As the old adage goes: Rome wasn’t built in a day. And defense – which relies on communication, chemistry and instilled concepts – is the side of the floor that tends to have the steepest learning curve.

It's going to take time for the Illini. How much of Illinois’ defensive struggles at Cincinnati can be chalked up to the lack of scouting, though, who knows? It’s tough to say how effective the Illini can be on that end at least until the season gets underway – and maybe much longer.

We'll keep saying it: Illinois has better all-around defensive personnel than it did last season. Defensive coordinator Cam Crocker is in Year 2. All signs point to a sturdier, steadier defense in 2026-27. And Cincinnati pouring 96 points on Illinois in a mid-October exhibition changes none of that.

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