Illinois vs. Alabama was, simply put, a depressing loss. I was at the game on Wednesday night with a group of fellow alumni, buzzing with anticipation to watch the Illini play in front of a near-capacity crowd in Chicago, and it truly turned out to be quite the sight to behold. Witnessing the largest indoor arena in the U.S. filled with an absolute sea of orange made me truly proud to be an Illini.
However, the game was another story. Illinois sputtered down the stretch in a game they absolutely should’ve
won. They couldn’t string together consecutive stops, the offense stalled outside of Andrej Stojakovic, and the most painful of all, Illinois went 13-for-22 at the free-throw line (59.1%). If their free-throw percentage were an academic test, they would have failed it. Losing by 4 while leaving 9 points on the table made for a silent drive back to the northern suburbs, cruising 5 under the speed limit while reflecting on the wasted opportunities.
During that reflective drive, I started to think about what things, sports or otherwise, are shockingly better than Illinois’ 59.1% free-throw shooting against Alabama? Here are a few that I uncovered:
Shaq’s Free-Throw Percentage (in 3 separate seasons)
Shaquille O’Neal might be the most iconic bad free-throw shooter ever. The man shot 42.2% one season. And still, somehow, he had three seasons better than Illinois’ night at the line:
- 1991–92: 59.2%
- 2002–03: 62.2%
- 2008–09: 59.5%
When Illinois is losing a free-throw contest to 37-year-old Shaq… you’ve got a problem.
PGA Tour Average Driving Accuracy (60.44%)
Think about this one:
The average PGA Tour player is more accurate at blasting a golf ball 300 yards and dropping it onto a narrow fairway… than Illinois was shooting a basketball 15 feet unobstructed. That’s devastating.
NFL Kickers on 50+ Yard Field Goals (69.9% in 2024)
Long gone are the days when a 50-yarder felt impossible. Kickers in 2024 drilled nearly 70% of field goals from 50+. Meanwhile, Illinois couldn’t break 60% on uncontested looks.
Tom Brady’s AFC Championship Appearance Rate (68.4%)
Brady made the AFC Championship 13 times in 19 seasons with the Patriots. That’s 68.4%, meaning Tom Brady reaching the second-to-last game of the NFL season was statistically more likely than Illinois making a free throw on Wednesday.
Walter Payton’s Career Passer Rating (69.6)
Passing stat line: 11/34, 331 yards, 8 TD, 6 INT, good for a 69.6 rating.
Sweetness, the best running back of all time, posted a more efficient quarterback rating than Illinois shot from the line. This one isn’t a dig at Payton. I wouldn’t suspect my dad would talk to me anymore if that were the case. It’s just a reminder of how jaw-droppingly bad 59% really is.
Conclusion
Free throws were not the only reason Illinois lost to Alabama, but they were the loudest. A 4-point loss with 9 missed freebies will haunt any fan who watched that game, especially in an atmosphere as incredible as the UC crowd.
However, the silver lining is that FT% will (hopefully) not be that bad again this season. It is very fixable, and I’m chalking it up to one of those random fluke games that happen in a season where your team simply cannot drain a free bucket. I suspect Illinois will shoot a very high percentage in the next few games because there is no way Brad would tolerate that kind of performance. He knows that if Illinois wants to compete with the best teams in the country, they can’t keep shooting free throws worse than a 37-year-old Shaq.
