Chicago Herald-American

Illinois' star-crossed basketball history is littered with disappointing NCAA tournament losses punctuated by lopsided disparities at the free-throw line. And while objectivity often precludes reporters from claiming the Illini wuz robbed, some of those disparities are so statistically abnormal, you can't ignore them. 

Like in 2001, when Arizona (43-of-56 from the line) beat No. 1-seed Illinois (20-of-25) in the Midwest Regional Final after Lute Olson complained publicly about Illinois' rugged play in a December loss to the Illini at the United Center -- when Illinois shot 34 free throws to Arizona's 26. 

Or in 2006, when Washington (28-of-39) edged the Illini (9-of-11) in a second-round game.

Or in 2005, when North Carolina (12-of-19) beat Illinois (4-of-6) in the national championship game, when James Augustine played nine minutes and fouled out with nary a point, while Carolina's Sean May, college basketball's bull-in-a-china-shop, played 34 minutes with one foul -- and 26 points. 

In those games and many like it, the Illini are a little more culpable for their demise than their fans would like to admit -- playing hack defense, failing to attack the basket, shooting poorly from the field and/or three-point range or missing the few free throws they get, including front ends of the bonus. 

Still, it's uncanny how often Illinois finds itself lamenting it's frustrating fate. On Saturday they lost 75-65 at Purdue when the Boilermakers hit 24-of-28 free throws and the Illini made 3-of-5. The 28-5 edge in free throws was the largest disparity at the line in the Big Ten this season. A week ago, Illinois was fourth in the conference in free-throws attempted (19.7 per game), then shot six against Ohio State (the Buckeyes shot 15) and five against Purdue.

Coming into the Purdue game, the Illini were second in the Big Ten in percentage of free throws shot in road games (.514). Yet they literally could not catch a break Saturday, getting the worst of virtually every single call that could have gone either way. The Illini allowed too many offensive rebounds (Purdue had a 12-5 edge there) and didn't create enough turnovers (losing the turnover battle 14-5). But they shot 27-of-55 from the field, 8-of-16 from three-point range. Relative to what they have, it might have been the best Illinois has played in a game it feels it got screwed by the officials since the NCAA tournament loss at Kentucky in 1984. 

That's little consolation for Bruce Weber, of course. The rebounding and turnovers he can fix. Improving the Illini's luck will prove much tougher to do.