Illini now

Social Media Reacts to Illinois Basketball's Second-Half Collapse at UCLA

The Illini blew a 26-point first-half lead and fell in overtime to the Bruins, sending social media into a frenzy
Jason Langendorf|
Feb 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (23) tries to drive to the basket between UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) and UCLA guard Donovan Dent (2) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
Feb 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (23) tries to drive to the basket between UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) and UCLA guard Donovan Dent (2) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting IlliniUCLA Bruins

You couldn't blame the Illinois men's basketball team for wishing its fervent-but-fickle fan base was just a little more capable of keeping the ups and downs of a Big Ten season in perspective. Illini Nation has a tendency to fly a little too close to the sun on the clear days, then agonize that the sky is falling after every loss.

Then again, the Illini are not making it any easier on their followers.

In Saturday's game at UCLA, Illinois came screaming out of the gate, only to slam into a wall on the final play of overtime in a gut-wrenching 95-94 loss at the buzzer. The final result was unthinkable based on the game's start, with the Illini hitting 11 of their first 21 field goals, including eight of their first 12 threes – the last of which, a Ben Humrichous bomb, extended the visitors' lead to 23 points barely 10 minutes into the game. During the stretch, Illinois collected seven offensive rebounds, extending possessions, discouraging the Bruins' defense and regularly pinging the scoreboard with second-chance points.

A timeout from UCLA's Mick Cronin – called in a last-ditch attempt to stop the bleeding – had precisely its intended effect. The Bruins picked up the intensity defending on the ball, battering Illini ball-handlers up to (and some would say beyond) the limits of the rulebook. That kinetic energy led to fiercer rebounding, which in turn spilled over to the offensive end, where Donovan Dent began dicing up every look Illinois threw at him and UCLA began making shots.

Whether or not the Illini were demoralized by the shift, frozen in the headlights or just plain old let up, their effort and communication seemed to crumble down the stretch of the first half, which ended with a moderately comfortable seven-point lead for Illinois – even after an inexcusable David Mirkovic foul on a Trent Perry three-point prayer at the buzzer gifted the Bruins free points.

But it got far uglier from there. We're talking 8-for-27-field-goal-shooting ugly – including a cratering from beyond the arc (3-for-18), which the Illini seemed to acutely sense but never respond to. They couldn't buy a bucket from deep after the half, yet they continued to fire them up, even with the Bruins dancing around foul trouble and perhaps the Big Ten's most underutilized post threat in Tomislav Ivisic actively dying on the vine.

Overtime wasn't much kinder to the Illini, though in the end, Keaton Wagler made up for a dreadful three-point look moments later by tossing in a putback of a Ben Humrichous to give Illinois a one-point lead with only seconds remaining in OT:

With 4.9 seconds on the clock and UCLA taking the bal out under Illinois' basket, all the Illini had to do was keep the ball out of Dent's hands, trap him, slow him, force him to give it up or simply use their size to harass him into a final-gasp circus shot without fouling. They did almost none of those things, and instead the Bruins authored a finish that looked like shades of one the program's finest-ever hours.

The defeat dropped Illinois to 23-5 (14-3 Big Ten) and, understandably, left Illini Nation mostly – though not entirely – demoralized. Trust us: You'll get the gist from the social-media aftermath, which featured no chill and plenty of feels:

Champaign, California?

Another dose of dominance

Is it, though?

That escalated quickly

Already seeing the cracks ...

Working (sort of) overtime

Collapse

Former Illini aren't fans

A coaching catastrophe?

Another perspective

Already looking ahead

Published
Jason Langendorf
JASON LANGENDORF

Jason Langendorf has covered Illinois basketball, football and more for Illinois on SI since October 2024, and has covered Illini sports – among other subjects – for 30 years. A veteran of ESPN and Sporting News, he has published work in The Guardian, Vice, Chicago Sun-Times and many other outlets. He is currently also the U.S. editor at BoxingScene and a judge for the annual BWAA writing awards. He can be followed and reached on X and Bluesky @JasonLangendorf.

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