731 days ago, Illinois Basketball was officially back.
The 2018-2019 season got off to a choppy start, but the team had much more promise than it had shown in the years since Malcolm Hill had graduated. Ayo Dosunmu and Giorgi Bezhanishvili were a killer freshmen duo, Brad Underwood was about 50 pounds heavier, and 50 wins lighter.
Illinois welcomed a No. 9 Michigan State team into State Farm Center, in front of a packed 15,000 or so fans. It was the Illini’s seventh game against a ranked opponent (they were 1-5), and the program was truly starting to turn around thanks to Ayo Dosunmu’s immediate impact.