DES MOINES — It didn’t take long at all to realize that, sadly — but not surprisingly — Illinois’ men’s basketball team wasn’t about to change its ways and make something special out of this latest March opportunity.
Right from the start of a Thursday matchup against Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, there was zero flow to the Illini offense. There were careless, nervy turnovers by veterans who needed to be better than that. For most of the first half, there were essentially no contributions from transfers and key starters Terrence Shannon Jr., Matthew Mayer and Dain Dainja.
