Brad Underwood didn’t hesitate after Illinois’ loss at Texas Tech on Tuesday night. When asked about Quentin Coleman’s performance, the Illini coach made his view plain.
“You get dinged around a little bit,” Underwood said of Coleman’s night at Texas Tech. “Then he just continues to make plays.
He’s fearless. He was the best player on the court.
I didn’t think there was any doubt about that.
“His shot-making. His toughness.
We’ve got to get him to continue to want to fight defensively, and we got to get him rebounding to the level he’s comfortable with. We’re asking him to do a lot without [David Mirkovic].
“And he played like the best player. And he showed that.
I have got tremendous admiration for what he went through. It’s not easy to not feel great and go out and fight through all that - especially for a young guy.”
That kind of praise would stand out in any game. It carried even more weight in Lubbock, where Illinois was dealing with the absence of David Mirkovic and Texas Tech was without JT Toppin. Even with those missing pieces, the floor still had plenty of talent on it.
Texas Tech had Cruz Davis and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn in the backcourt, two players who each led a mid-major conference in scoring last season. Donovan Atwell knocked down 130 three-pointers in 2025-26. Darrion Williams brought two-time All-Big 12 recognition to the matchup.
Illinois had its own firepower, too. Andrej Stojakovic was there.
Tomislav Ivisic has been hooping. Stefan Vaaks is an elite offensive player.
And yet Coleman still owned the night.
He finished with 19 points and led Illinois in scoring, going 5-for-6 from three-point range while piling up shot after shot that kept the Illini in the game. He also added four assists and three offensive rebounds, but his impact went well beyond the box score.
Defensively, Coleman was everywhere. He finished with two steals and seemed to get his hands on everything, with several more deflections to his name. One backside help play on a post lob stood out as one of the best of the night.
The freshman also kept getting knocked around. He went down multiple times with what appeared to be a mild injury, and at one point he stepped off the court and leaned over a garbage can before coming back a few minutes later.
So yes, it was that kind of night: a road game in one of the toughest environments around, with Coleman dealing with illness and being banged up along the way. Even then, he was still the best player on the court.
That’s the story Underwood told afterward, and the performance backed it up.
In Other News...
Illinois Loss Exposed One Big Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Illinois had enough on the defensive side to keep UCLA from running away with the game, but the offense never found a steady rhythm in the 22-14 loss. Katin Houser had a rough day, and the problems up front were hard to miss as UCLAs defense kept disrupting Illinois plans. Even so, there were a few encouraging signs, including Kaden Feagins smooth move to tight end, which added a different dimension to the offense and gave the Illini something to build on.
The bigger concern is how often Illinois looked stuck when it needed a response. The defense did its part and gave the Illini chances to stay in it, but the offense could not consistently take advantage of them. For a team trying to find its footing, that kind of imbalance is tough to ignore, especially when the pressure keeps landing on the quarterback and the line to sort things out before the next game. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Just Lost More Than A Winning Streak In Pasadena
Illinois trip to the Rose Bowl ended with more than just a loss on the scoreboard. The Fighting Illini fell 22-14 to UCLA, snapping a four-game winning streak and running into a Bruins defense that made life difficult from the start. Illinois also had to navigate a thin rushing attack because of injuries, which only added to the pressure on quarterback Katin Houser.
UCLA got enough from Ty Dieffenbach to control the game even after he missed part of it with an injury, as the Bruins quarterback still managed 232 passing yards and two touchdowns. Illinois could never fully recover from Housers three interceptions, and the drive-killing safety only deepened the frustration on a day when the Illini had chances to stay in it but couldnt finish enough possessions. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Has A Duke Problem After This Sloppy Sam Houston Win
Illinois got the result it needed against Sam Houston, but the way it got there offered a reminder that cleaner play will be required once the schedule tightens. The Illini were sloppy in the first half before settling in and lighting up the scoreboard after halftime, with upperclassmen Tomislav Ivisic, Andrej Stojakovic and Stefan Vaaks helping steady the offense and push the game into comfortable territory.
Quentin Coleman also gave Illinois a useful lift as a freshman, even if the growing pains showed up along the way, and Zvonimir Ivisic added a defensive spark off the bench. For a team trying to build toward bigger tests, the win was encouraging enough on the surface, but the uneven stretches are the kind of thing that can become a real issue when the competition rises. [Read more 🡒]