Illinois coach Brad Underwood is hoping his 8th-ranked team learned a lesson from a 90-86 defeat against No. 11 Alabama on Wednesday in Chicago.”We need to learn how not to lose,” Underwood said.Underwood and the Fighting Illini (4-1) will attempt not to lose Saturday when they welcome Long Island to Champaign for another nonconference contest.Illinois probably beats the Crimson Tide if it makes free throws. It got into the bonus fairly early in the second half but simply wasn’t able to convert foul shots, going a brutal 9-of-17 at the line in the half and 13-of-22 for the game.That included guys like Andrej Stojakovic, who scored 26 points, going 2-for-5. It also included Keaton Wagler, an 85.3% foul shooter entering the game, missing 2 of 5, and David Mirkovic, 18 of 20 from the line entering Wednesday, clanking his only attempt.In a fitting four-point contrast given the final margin, Alabama made 17 of 23 free throws.”When you play a top-10 team, you sure as hell can’t go 9-for-17 from the free throw line,” said Underwood of the second half issues at the stripe. “They played better than what we did. A lot to learn for us in that moment.”Every possession is important. We’re going to be in 25 more of these close games. I expect perfection. I demand perfection. I know it’s not going to happen but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to expect those type of things from those guys.”Kylan Boswell is the team’s leading scorer at 19.2 points per game and is coming off a 22-point, seven-assist performance against Alabama. Mirkovic is adding 16.8 points and 12 rebounds per game as a freshman, while Stojakovic is also scoring 16.8 ppg and sinking 54.7% of his field goal attempts.