Illinois went toe-to-toe with a very good Texas team but fell in overtime 90-84. These teams were evenly matched in almost every way, but the difference proved to be free throws. Texas got to the line 44 times against 69 field goal attempts, a free throw rate (63.8) they bested only three times last season. As always, this number can get distorted at the end of a close game when the trailing team is fouling on purpose, but it wasn't all that much lower in regulation (50.8). The Longhorns didn't take full advantage of all those free tosses, making just 57 percent, but they still outscored the Illini by 7 points at the foul stripe.

Both teams scored well considering the competition; Texas put up 1.14 points per trip, while Illinois' efficiency was 1.06 PPP. To score that well against what should be a very good defensive team is encouraging for Bruce Weber's squad, but the defensive effort wasn't quite good enough.

Perhaps the most perplexing thing for the Illini defense was something we normally take for granted--rebounding missed free throws. Texas missed 10 free throws that were available for a rebound (i.e. were not the first of two shots), and the Longhorns got the offensive rebound on three of them. Allowing an opponent to grab 30 percent of their misses is fine when we're talking field goals, but it's unacceptable when the rules have placed you in superior rebounding position from the start of the play. Texas would score 4 points on those 3 extra possessions. Like any overtime game, something small like that could have made the difference between a disappointing loss and a triumphant win.

We ran our super-duper really inelegant spreadsheet on the play-by-play of this game (after fixing the scorekeeper's mistaking of Jereme Richmond for walk-on Kevin Berardini), so we've got interesting data to share:

This table is showing (from left to right) how much each player played, the plus/minus for that player, how many points his team and the opponent scored while he was on the floor, how many offensive and defensive possessions that player played, the team's efficiencies and efficiency margin (EM) while he played, and the tempo of the game while he played.

The first thing that jumps out is that the team's efficiency margin with Bill Cole on the floor was fantastic, but his plus/minus was -2. How can that be? Look at the number of offensive and defensive possessions Cole played. Bruce Weber was subbing offense-for-defense late in the game, so Cole played a lot more defense than offense.

As usual, Demetri McCamey was crucial to his team's fate. When the senior point guard was on the floor, Illinois outscored Texas by three (mostly due to better offensive play from the Illini). In the two and a half minutes when McCamey was resting, the Illinois offense stalled and the Longhorns had a big nine point edge.

Mike Tisdale's numbers also show his importance to the offense. When Tisdale was on the floor, Illinois scored at a blistering 1.21 points per possession. Unfortunately, Texas scored even more. This makes some sense--if a guy collects five fouls in 21 minutes, he's probably not helping your defense.

A bit surprising were the team's offensive struggles when freshman Jereme Richmond was on the floor. Richmond was one of the few Illini with more points than shots (11 on 8), and he grabbed three offensive rebounds and never turned the ball over. As is always the case with plus/minus stats, it could just be that Richmond happened to be in the game when things weren't going well for the Illini offense (and maybe he wasn't necessarily the cause), but it will be interesting to track this over the course of the season.

Overall, the loss is a missed opportunity for Illinois to get a big win early in the season, but it's no reason for panic. The fact that Illinois played Texas to a standstill over the first 40 minutes is some validation that the Illini are in fact a top 20 team. Of course, at some point it all comes down to wins and losses--this isn't hockey, where you get credit for an overtime loss. If Illinois is to truly be seen as one of the nation's better teams, they'll have to start winning some of these close games against good opponents.

The Illini may get another chance tonight, as they face a good Maryland team in the third place game (4pm CT, ESPN2).

In other Big Ten action last night:

• Michigan rode hot three-point shooting and some solid D to a 69-50 win over Bowling Green. The Wolverines shot 8 of 17 from deep (47 percent), led by Evan Smotrycz and Zack Novak (a combined 5 for 10). The pair also took care of the defensive glass, combining for 14 of the team's 33 defensive rebounds. Darius Morris was a distributor extraordinaire, dishing 11 assists to 3 turnovers.

• Minnesota put up an impressive performance in Puerto Rico, beating Western Kentucky 95-77 in a game where the Gophers were only favored by 4 points. This time it was the Minnesota offense that was impressive, scoring 1.20 points per trip on some high percentage shooting. All five starters scored in double figures, led by Ralph Sampson's 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 blocks (!). Trevor Mbakwe is Mr. Double-Double thus far--he put up another with 18 points and 10 boards.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller