Illinois would be talking about Northwestern's first Big Ten win in 27 games right about now. We just didn't play to our potential yesterday. Illinois led by just seven points at halftime and didn't pull away until the six-minute mark of the second half.
Every win counts the same.
We were just happy to get away with one in Evanston. And don't think first-year Illinois head coach Bill Self didn't make his team aware of his disappointment. I don't think we are playing with the same passion level that we were in November and early December. Of course, back then Illinois was taking on the giants of the NCAA, taking No. 1 Arizona and Duke down to the wire, toppling Seton Hall and Missouri in overtime. We haven't had a chance to have valleys with all of the big games that we had.