I started the Thanksgiving weekend in Cincinnati with the football team( which lost to the Bearcats by 13 points).... and ended the holiday weekend  listening to Dave Loane and Jerry Hester on the radio as they called  two close and disappointing basketball losses in Las Vegas.

(By the way....I understand now what people mean when they tell me listening to close, hard-fought basketball games on the radio makes them nervous.  It is not nearly so nerve-wracking when you are broadcasting  the games yourself---you  simply have too much else to think about when you are doing the play-by-play.)

But I digress.

The first half of the Utah game on Friday night....the Illini looked solid.  They held a lumbering Utah team to 16 first half points and had doubled the Utes on the scoreboard.  Illinois maintained a double-digit lead going into the final 10 minutes...and then simply stopped scoring...and watched Utah claw its way back into the game by hitting nearly 70 percent of their 2nd half shots.   Eventually the Utes hit a game winning shot at the buzzer which left the Ilini stunned at the finish.

Suddenly they were faced with having to settle for the 3rd-place trophy at the Las Vegas Invitational...and to even get that trophy.... they would have to face a Bradley team that always wants to play... and beat the University of Illinois.   

The Braves had played poorly in their first few games of the year....including during the semi-final loss in Vegas to Oklahoma State.  But as an Illinois fan...you knew Bradley would be fired up to face the suddenly-back-on-their heels- Illini.

The Illini came out flat against the Braves as they tried to shake off the disappointment of their loss to Utah the night before.  Bradley jumped out to a big lead early...but the Illini seemed to regain their balance as the game went on and Illinois even grabbed a 66-61 lead late in the game.  But then the Braves ended the game on a 11-2 run and suddenly the Illini were facing a long and quiet trip back home from Las Vegas with two losses to think about ....and with  a quick-turnaround  trip to Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC on Wednesday night staring them in the face.

By the way...A big thanks to Dave Loane for sitting in for me on the trip west to Las Vegas and doing a great job on the broadcasts.  I will be back with Jerry Hester and Loren Tate on Wednesday night on the Illini Sports Network  for the Big Ten-ACC Challenge matchup at Clemson. 

Talk to you then!