Brad Underwood doesn’t need to defend his record at Illinois.
He has taken the program back to where the Illini always expected to be, going 29-11 over the last two seasons in Big Ten play, winning the conference tournament in 2020-21 and a share of the regular-season title with Wisconsin this year.
Last year’s team went into the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, earning a No.1 seed. He recruited two elite players in Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn and has another potential star on the way next year in Thornton High forward Ty Rodgers.
But all of that will be overlooked if the fourth-seeded Illini fall to No. 5 Houston on Sunday (11:10 a.m., CBS-2) in their second-round game at PPG Paints Arena, a distinct possibility after Friday’s ugly, last-minute win over No. 13 seed Chattanooga.
A college basketball coach is only as good as his record in March Madness, and the pressure is on Underwood to get the Illini into the Sweet 16.
Alfonso Plummer bailed Underwood out Friday with some timely 3-point shooting in the second half, or everyone would be talking about another devastating tournament exit by Underwood’s kids.
After an early-morning rain, the sun came out Saturday in Pittsburgh, giving the Illini (23-9) a chance to thank their lucky stars they’re still alive.
But after a dismal performance in a loss to Indiana in their Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game, followed by Friday’s near-debacle in Pittsburgh, how confident can anyone be that this Illini team has what it takes to get to a Final Four?
Underwood said Saturday that the Illini played “tentative” against Chattanooga, theorizing they might have felt some pressure after last year’s second-round loss to Loyola.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It gets talked about a lot. Last year’s loss gets talked about. They’re human. They feel it. But it’s also a very good feeling. We could not play any worse offensively, and to find a way to win a game, especially being down 20-6, is a pretty gratifying feeling.”
If it had been the Illini’s first taste of the Big Dance, that might have been a valid excuse.
But Cockburn, Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo are all experienced enough to know they can’t afford to think about last year’s loss if they expect to win this year. They’ve been tested often playing in the best conference in the nation and should be accustomed to the pressure of performing on a big stage.
Cockburn had decent numbers but missed several inside chances and went 5 of 10 at the free-throw line. Curbelo shot 1-for-7 from the field with six turnovers, and Frazier missed all six of his shots, including five from 3-point range.
Underwood needs all three stars to play to their potential Sunday against Houston (30-5), which cruised to an 82-68 win against UAB behind guard Kyler Edwards’ six 3-pointers.
Underwood is known for his tough-love approach to his players. He yells like a madman on the bench to motivate them. But he spent most of Saturday’s media availability making excuses for Friday’s game.
Frazier, he said, was still coming off the effects of pink eye, and two of Curbelo’s six turnovers weren’t his fault.
“One was a miscommunication that he threw to Coleman (Hawkins), and that was on me, simply a play call that he only heard half of it,” Underwood said. “And then he throws a pocket pass to Kofi that goes right through his hands. He gets the turnover for that.”
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Cockburn, who was fouled 11 times in a strategy that made perfect sense with his inconsistent free-throw shooting, should have gotten even more calls, according to Underwood.
“Well, they only called 11,” he said. “In Big Ten play those were probably closer to six fouls drawn and 19 missed. But he’s seen it all. He draws so much attention. Again, he’s been shooting free throws at a 70% rate this year.”
But the best part was when Underwood suggested the media was putting too much pressure on the Illini, like they are a midmajor team and not the Big Ten co-champs.
“Well, if they didn’t have to listen to you guys, it would be great,” he said. “I think the one thing that’s out there is you want them to have fun, and you try to keep instilling that, and to go play loose, go play with your hair on fire and just cut loose.”
The Illini looked very loose before Friday’s game. Curbelo even leaped up to the rim before player introductions and pulled himself up with his head coming through the net. The flashy point guard suggested Saturday that he would be fine if he finished with the same kind of stats on Sunday if his plus-minus is as good as Friday’s plus-18.
“If that’s got to be straight defense and five points, six turnovers, I’m OK with that,” he said.
Curbelo is too talented to be “OK” with that kind of night. Illini fans expect more from him, and that’s why he often gets criticized for trying to be a human highlight reel instead of just running the offense.
“I know who I am, I know the player I am, and I (couldn’t) really care less what people have to say,” he said. “They’re just on social media, they’re never going to come up to my face and say it. I know the player I am, and I will continue to do my thing. That’s who I am.
“I take high-risk plays, and I feel like that’s what separates me from other guards maybe. Like everybody says, it’s sometimes good, sometimes bad. But like I said, I’m going to stay true to myself and I’m going to continue to be who I am on and off the floor always.”
Underwood said Thursday that this team has “a little swag,” an understatement to be sure. That’s all well and good when you’re a dominant team like Gonzaga. The Illini are a very good team but certainly not good enough to think they can beat anyone just by showing up.
When you’re the Big Ten co-champions and barely eke out a win over a team that looked as shaky as Chattanooga, you might want to stop looking at social media on your phone to see what the critics are saying. Swagger is a meaningless trait during March Madness if you don’t live up to the hype, especially in a season when parity is rampant.
“I definitely don’t think we lost our swagger,” Cockburn said. “I think we’re a really confident team. We have great chemistry. It’s just the way the games went. We came out a little bit flat. You can’t really do that. This is college basketball. Every team needs to come out with that competitive edge.”
It’s now on Underwood to make sure the Illini have that edge.