Brad Underwood knows the importance of a win for Illinois.

The Fighting Illini are fighting for a winning record and relevancy this season. At 9-5 overall, and 0-3 in conference play Illinois sits almost dead last in the B1G, narrowly inching ahead of Minnesota. The Illini have lost 3 of their last five, including getting thumped by Northwestern 73-60 on Wednesday.

After the loss to the Wildcats, Underwood noted the need for Illinois to get back to where they were at the beginning of the season.

“We need to win. We need to get back to playing with our swagger, with our confidence,” said Underwood. “This is a team that beat UCLA. This is a team that beat Texas. We’ve beaten good teams and we’ve played good teams.”

Underwood also singled out Jayden Epps as needing to be more aggressive on the court. Epps scored 11 points for the Illini against Northwestern.

“We need aggressive Jayden Epps,” said Underwood. “Jayden needs to be a 10-16 points per game guy for us every single night knowing he’s capable of getting 20.”