Texas Tech's "electric" fans leave impact on Illinois basketball head coach Brad Underwood

At one point on Tuesday, it looked like Illinois basketball was going to get their doors blown off.

Texas Tech was thumping the Illini in the first half. They took a 20-point lead into the halftime locker room, but Illinois responded quickly in the final 20 minutes.

The Illini ended up falling short of an incredible comeback, but regardless of the result, Brad Underwood left that game with a great impression of the Texas Tech fans.

"In my 10 years here (Illinois), it is the best atmosphere I have been in. Their (Texas Tech) home crowd was electric."

That is a great honor for Texas Tech. Underwood has been a part of some massive games while at Illinois, and leaving this impact on him is huge for that program.

There are plenty of great atmospheres in college basketball, but Underwood went on to explain why Texas Tech had the juice.

"It was loud. They were rude and crude. All of the above. It was everything you need your players to learn and understand."

Illinois' first real test came on Tuesday against Texas Tech, so it was nice to get thrown into the fire like that. The Red Raiders brought the fight, and the Illini answered in the second half.

While it was a loss, this was great experience for the freshmen on the team, which Illinois has relied on a lot this season due to the injuries of David Mirkovic and Jake Davis. Both players won't be back for a while, so playing in this atmosphere will help the young guns get prepared for future contests.

Illinois basketball has a schedule that features some of the top fanbases in the country

In all honesty, Texas Tech isn't the first team that comes to mind when I think of wild fanbases. They held their own, as they left an impression on Underwood.

This was the first time Illinois played a rowdy fanbase this season, but it won't be the last.

After the game against Sam Houston, Illinois heads to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on Duke on Tuesday. The Cameron Crazies are known as one of the best fanbases in all of sports, let alone college basketball.

The Illinois freshmen will also get to experience some craziness when the Braggin' Rights game takes place against Missouri on December 20. Tigers fans can get rowdy, so the Texas Tech experience will help with that game.

I haven't even mentioned the Big Ten matchups to come. Illinois travels to Indiana, Michigan, and Purdue this season. All three programs have good fanbases.

Texas Tech was a tough loss, but Illinois at least got some great experience. The Illini needed this quality competition to prepare for what is to come down the road.

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This article was originally published on www.writingillini.com as Texas Tech's "electric" fans leave impact on Illinois basketball head coach Brad Underwood.