A History of Heartbreakers during the Weber Era

1. March 6, 2005 - Matt Sylvester
This one hurts because we were 29-0 and had an 11-point lead in the 2nd half (IIRC). We could have finished a 30-0 regular season and a 16-0 Big Ten campaign, which would have been a nice historic accomplishment. Instead some punk hits the shot of his life and Thad Matta's Ohio State tenure is launched into overdrive.

2. February 4, 2006 - The Penn State Curse
This is another game where we had a double-digit lead and it slipped away from us at the end. It looked like our home win streak would reach 35 games when Rich McBride hit a game-winning 3 at the buzzer to cap off the final 2.2 seconds. However, the shot was a tenth of a second late and it was waved off with some remnants of the Orange Krush still on the court. This was a killer loss because it dropped us to a 4 seed when we could have easily had a 2 seed and returned to the Final Four instead of George Mason getting there. It's also pretty much the date where we went from an elite program to an also-ran. Finally, we've lost 6 more times to Penn State since then, never by more than 5 points. So this entry really counts 7 games, including the infamous home loss where we only scored 33 points.

3. March 16, 2007 - "Warren, you idiot!"
Illinois actually had an admirable run to make the NCAAs and were on the verge of pulling off the 12-5 upset, which would have been the biggest upset in that year's NCAA Tournament. Instead, a 10-point lead slipped away in the last 4:30. The killer ramifications of this one were our AD humiliating himself and a national article capturing him yelling, "Warren -- you idiot!" and the fact that we wouldn't win an NCAA Tournament game until 2011.

4. February 7, 2008 - The Eric Gordon game
This game was circled on the calendar since October 2006. The crowd was wonderfully vocal, but you need to win to be vindicated. Instead, we got painted as hooligans because someone threw pieces of ice or something at indyoldschool. The two painful memories etched in my mind are Eric Gordon banking in a 3 and Shaun Pruitt missing two FTs to send the game to a 2OT, where we ultimately lost. The ramifications of this game were the breaking of the spirit of the Assembly Hall fans and Eric Gordon's ultimate banishment to NBA hell on the Clippers and then the Hornets when the Clippers became too good for him.

5. November 27, 2009 - What Happens In Vegas
To me, this game encapsulates the issues with the McCamey/Cole/Davis/Tisdale group. We had a 16 point halftime lead and then Utah outmuscled us and clawed their way back into the game and even had a late lead. Still, we had the ball with a chance for the final shot. McCamey makes his move too early, misses a driving shot, and then a Utah player is free on the other end of the court to make an uncontested game-winner at the buzzer. This was the first tight contest when we had Weber recruits with talent, but we lacked the mental toughness and focus to win down the stretch. This game broke our spirits and then the next day Sam Maniscalco joined the Marcus Arnold All-Stars when Bradley beat us. That early-season disaster ultimately caused us to miss the NCAAs and really undermined Weber as a coach. Brad Beal commits to Florida while we are flying home and we have a year where we just aren't quite good enough to win the big games.

6. December 18, 2010 - Chicago's University of Illinois Team
March 2005 - Deron Williams goes off in the final minutes of a huge comeback win in Chicago to send Illinois to the Final Four. Illinois basketball was the talk of the town. Well, in Chicago on December 18, 2010, Darrin Williams scored five points in the final 1:10 Saturday and Illinois-Chicago rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit to stun No. 12 Illinois 57-54. This may have been rock bottom -- losing to a branch of your own university that isn't even a top-250 team. This is the game that ensure the legacy of a senior class as underachievers and gave even the most ardent Weber supporter a reason to wonder what happened. The saddest part of all of this may be that Jabari Parker left the United Center that day wondering how Illinois could lose to UIC. That may prove to be the day that killed us in that recruitment.

Dishonorable Mention
March 17, 2006 - Brandon Roy and the refs beat us 67-64 in the NCAA Tournament. I'd say more but we have been losing to the refs in the NCAA Tournament for years.

The 2007-2008 non-conference - somehow we lost two OT games, one at home to Miami (OH) and one at the UC to Arizona (they should have been called for a technical foul for attempting to call TO at the end of regulation). Those losses were surpassed by a 60-58 home loss to Tennessee State. The pain all blurs together so these don't get an item on the list.