Winning by 22 points would normally give a head coach plenty of reasons to smile. However, Brad Underwood clearly had other things on his mind after No. 3 Illinois cruised past Sam Houston 108-86. Despite the comfortable victory, the Fighting Illini coach was far from satisfied with what he saw on the court, particularly his players’ repeated tendency to fall after attacking the basket.

After the win over the Sam Houston Bearkats, Underwood addressed the media, the video of which was uploaded to the Fighting Illini Athletics YouTube page. When he was asked about his players’ habit of falling to the floor after driving for layups, he gave a blunt response.

“Yeah, we can mop the floor with as many guys as we have that fall… We got a falling issue. Yeah, we’re going to get hit, but all the falling stuff, they think they’re baiting these officials. They’re not. But yeah, it’s been addressed, especially after the Tech game.”

The game Underwood is referring to is the Illinois Fighting Illini’s 84-78 road loss to No. 16 Texas Tech earlier in the week. Therefore, he was particularly displeased to see the habit carry over into the Sam Houston matchup despite having already discussed it with his players.

That, however, was not the only issue head coach Brad Underwood had with his Fighting Illini team after the game. Beyond players falling out of plays, Underwood also pointed out that Illinois allowed too many fundamental mistakes on defense. He attributed these lapses largely to poor on-court communication, noting that players need to recognize defensive situations and communicate with their teammates rather than expect others to figure things out on their own.

“I’ve said it a million times, and I’ve got at least three or four more million left in me. Quiet teams lose. Quiet teams lose because it’s not a mind-reading game. There’s always somebody defensively who has their back to all the action, and they have to hear it. They have to see it,” Underwood said.

Underwood also believed his players showed too much selfishness on the defensive end instead of defending as a collective unit. In his view, improving communication would go a long way toward correcting this problem.

“We’re playing selfishly defensively, we’re not playing one-on-Illinois defense. We’re playing one-on-one, and, well, my man didn’t score. That’s not where we’ve got to be. It’s got to be one-on-Illinois, and we’ve got to help the helper and continue to do that. But you’ve got to talk. There’s nothing worse than being a guard and having somebody run behind you and set a screen, and you hit it because you don’t know what’s coming,” Underwood said.

Brad Underwood brought six freshmen onto the Illinois Fighting Illini roster for the 2026/27 season. The recruiting class is headlined by five-star guard Quentin Coleman. And Underwood has praised the group’s basketball intelligence and ability to quickly retain the team’s schemes. 

However, while the Illinois coach has embraced high school recruiting rather than relying solely on the transfer portal, he also understands some of the challenges that come with developing young players who are still adjusting to the demands of college basketball and he has accepted responsibility for addressing them.

“That’s their cell phone, and that’s what they look at. Then they play a video game. I’m amazed that they know the ABCs and how to speak English. They’ve never been asked to talk before, and now it’s our job to help them know what to say. When you get the best players in high school, they get away with a lot. And very little has been demanded of them in that regard,” Underwood said.

Illinois will face No. 2 Duke in its next game on Tuesday, November 17. With a much tougher challenge awaiting the Fighting Illini, Underwood will be watching closely to see whether the corrections he has demanded show up against one of the toughest opponents on the schedule.