This is the sort of Illini loss that makes you old and bitter.

Well then, I certainly wont be going to any more games as a fan this year, will I? My one trip to the stands last year was the first loss to Missouri in  a decade. As for my game yesterday, the first UIC win in much longer. I have learned my lesson.

That feeling you feel today is probably one familiar to you, shocked disappointment. We felt it last year against the likes of Utah, Bradley and Georgia, and three years ago against Miami of Ohio, and Middle Tennessee State. Shocked because never in your wildest dreams did you actually think the Illini could drop a game like that (but honestly, I can't say we should be shocked at this point) and disappointed  because you know this team should be better than this.

There have been a lot of warning signs for this game, including less than optimal outputs against an admittedly underestimated Oakland team and Northern Colorado. In both games, the defense looked very lax at times and the intensity was on cruise control. We won both games, but largely because of overwhelming offensive production and heroics by Demetri McCamey ( 30 points against Oakland, 11 points 8 assists against NoCo.) What should have had me worried is the fact that players like Niel Kingman and Reggie Hamilton were scoring gobs of points against us from the guard position, and that we were once again becoming susceptible to three point jump shooters.

Yesterday's game showed three bad  habits coming together all at once. Getting burned by the likes of Robo Krebs from the the 3 point line is something we should have seen coming in our scouting report, but we left him alone to shoot  way too often right from the tip off, he scored 9 of his 15 points in the first five minutes. Ever since our  better games against Maryland, North Carolina and Gonzaga, we have become more and more satisfied with simply shooting three-balls on offense, usually way early in the shot clock. When they fall at an unreal pace like in Seattle, we look unbeatable, but that's just what it is, unreal. I'll say it again and again until my face turns blue, JUMP SHOOTERS GO COLD. And that is just what we did against UIC, going 4-17 from outside, and just shooting 33% from the field overall. D.J. Richardson's shooting woes were perhaps the most painful to watch, as he went 1-6 from three. I should say though, to his credit, after missing so many threes by so much, he took matters into his own hands and drove to the hoop with strength, something we have been seeing less and less of from the rest of the players.

The last bad habit, we have all been all too painfully aware of: our front court has been playing worse and worse. In this game, Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis combined for all of 6 points, while going 2-11 from the field. Tizzy's defense has looked bad since Texas, with the notable exception of UNC, and yesterday he fouled out yet again due to being in the wrong place, not sliding into position quick enough and sometimes just making mental errors. Tisdale can't be effective by sitting on the bench with fouls, which is something he has been doing more and more. Darrin Williams and Paul Carter of UIC benefited immensely from the problematic UI defense. Mike Davis grabbed just two rebounds the whole game, he is much better than that.

When our guards jump shots are not falling, the need to feed down low, especially against a team where we should have a natural talent advantage over like UIC,  The Mike and Mike absence of relevance is by far the most disappointing of all the disappointments displayed yesterday. Meyers Leonard got more time due to the Tiz fouls, but he really wasn't that much of an impact, with only 4 points, and 4 fouls of his own. With both Leonard and Tisdale in foul trouble, it is perplexing that we didn't see Tyler Griffey for more than four minutes yesterday. There must be something going on that I don't really know about, because to a certain point, how much worse of a look could he give us.

When UIC took the 1-3-1 zone against us, we looked lost, and since we were unable to shoot ourselves out of it, we were flailing. We couldn't really press the ball on offense like we wanted and credit to UIC, our guards had few uncontested shots to take. But regardless of the defense, the Illini shot themselves in the foot plenty as well, with 15 total turnovers, 12 of which came from the starters.

All of this sounds like the perfect recipe for an upset by a mid major like UIC. Basketball, more than any other game, is subject to emotion. You can be a very good team, but if you don't commit yourself mentally to the game as much as the other team, you are at a disadvantage. It does not help that we were playing UIC in what is probably the biggest game of their year, in a neutral court, in the middle of a sleepy Saturday afternoon. There is no way that UIC was not going to be fully mentally invested in this game, most of their players played in the same holiday tournaments as our players back in High School, and don't doubt that they wanted to show up the state school. As solid a rule as jump shooters going cold, so should be playing mid-major in state rivals outside of your home court, it is a bad idea.

Wednesday is Missouri, a chance to either reclaim the confidence  we knew just last week or start reliving the nightmares of last year. I honestly don't know which direction the Illini will take. What honestly is comforting though is the presence of Chester Frazier on this coaching staff. He has been through every sort of success and failure that this team has known in the past half decade, and if anyone can impress on both the young guys, and the seniors who used to follow him on the court, that this game requires just as much mental and emotional preparation as physical, it is him. Another good sign, Demetri McCamey and Jereme Richmond have shown before they like to step up to the plate when the spotlight is on them, and this game against Mizzou, it will certainly be . Win or lose, there is a lot to be learned about this team on Wednesday.

One player, unfortunately, who will likely not be playing on Wednesday is Brandon Paul, who landed awkwardly on his left ankle in the closing minute of the game on Saturday. As far as the team trainers can tell, it is just a sprain, but he will apparently be undergoing more tests to make sure.