Two positives: 1. Boswell played his butt off. Kept the Illini in the game with his excellent performance.
2.The team made 17 of 18 free throws. Second game in a row when they shot well from the line.
Huge problems include shooting way too many threes. It is NOT this teams' strong point and Underwood has to instruct his team to take fewer threes. Even the attempts when the shooter was wide open were off. 6 of 29 = 21% and that is just not acceptable. Illinois was only 8 of 30 against UTRGV, and 5 of 16 vs Long Island. If you cannot hit better than 30% on threes vs bad teams, it is time to change your strategy. In yesterdays' game, the Ivisic twins and Mirkovic shot 1 for 12 from three point range.
UConn outrebounded the Illini, first time this season that has happened. Even with big man Tarris Reed only playing 15 min. and getting 5 rebounds, the Huskies even got more offensive rebounds than Illinois. UConn also got 19 assists, to only 10 for the Illini. The Illinois offense is mostly too predictable and selfish.
What the hail happened to Stojakovic? I saw him get chewed out by Underwood as he came out of the game once, and he had mostly no impact the rest of the game. He had just 3 pts on 1 for 7 for the game, played only 24 min. Is he hurt, or just in the doghouse? Maybe lack of defense got him benched?
Petrovic had a rough 18 min., scoring 2 pts on 1 for 7, turning the ball over 3 times, and committing 3 fouls. Tomislav did get 10 rebounds in his 25 min. played, but only scored 2 baskets in the paint.
I realize this players are not familiar enough with each other yet to play better as a team, and some of the guys are not fully healthy. They now have over a week to get ready for Tennessee, another tough opponent, and they need to work on their passing and getting more inside offense.
loss to UConn
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Re: loss to UConn
agreed ...it seems clear that this team is not a good 3 pt shooting team. Again. But BU thinks they are. Again. Chucking up 30 treys per game just seems like a formula for mediocrity.
This team has a unique mix of size and skill sets. But 3 pt shooting and defending the lane are not included. Coaching and strategy can compensate, but we'll see.
One other point of emphasis needs to be aggression at the rim. our 3 bigs all tried kissing the ball off the glass instead of dunking...that drives me crazy.
This team has a unique mix of size and skill sets. But 3 pt shooting and defending the lane are not included. Coaching and strategy can compensate, but we'll see.
One other point of emphasis needs to be aggression at the rim. our 3 bigs all tried kissing the ball off the glass instead of dunking...that drives me crazy.
Re: loss to UConn
solid effort against TN
finally some offense sets designed to take advantage of size and matchup advantages...if the other team doesn't have a big capable of defending T. Ivisic, either down low or on the perimeter, then he needs to touch ball on 75% of our possessions. They seemed to have game planned exactly for that and executed well.
that was the best defensive effort by the Illini we've seen so far this year. Their 2 best players, Gillespie and Ament, had frustrating night with defenders in their face constantly.
Do they even call 3 seconds in the lane violations at all anymore? Or has that gone the way of traveling? Man there were some guys just parked in the lane all night.
finally some offense sets designed to take advantage of size and matchup advantages...if the other team doesn't have a big capable of defending T. Ivisic, either down low or on the perimeter, then he needs to touch ball on 75% of our possessions. They seemed to have game planned exactly for that and executed well.
that was the best defensive effort by the Illini we've seen so far this year. Their 2 best players, Gillespie and Ament, had frustrating night with defenders in their face constantly.
Do they even call 3 seconds in the lane violations at all anymore? Or has that gone the way of traveling? Man there were some guys just parked in the lane all night.
Re: loss to UConn
Other than getting outrebounded badly in the first half, the Illini played very well - especially Wagler. This true freshman has played un-freshman like all season, and in this game he led the way with 16 pts, 5 assists, 8 rebounds, and Zero turnovers. Tomi had a fine game as well, as you stated.Rickster wrote: ↑08 Dec 2025 10:43 am solid effort against TN
finally some offense sets designed to take advantage of size and matchup advantages...if the other team doesn't have a big capable of defending T. Ivisic, either down low or on the perimeter, then he needs to touch ball on 75% of our possessions. They seemed to have game planned exactly for that and executed well.
that was the best defensive effort by the Illini we've seen so far this year. Their 2 best players, Gillespie and Ament, had frustrating night with defenders in their face constantly.
Do they even call 3 seconds in the lane violations at all anymore? Or has that gone the way of traveling? Man there were some guys just parked in the lane all night.
Yes, lane violation calls are rare as hen's teeth these days. Many more calls on bogus "flagrant" fouls.
Much anticipated Conference opener vs OSU tomorrow night at Columbus. The Buckeyes are 7-1 with victories over Notre Dame and Northwestern, only loss at Pitt by one point.
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Re: loss to UConn
Well, UConn felt like the "young American hockey players" in the "Miracle On ice Game."
In fact, it was like UConn played a similar game against the "Illinois Transylvanians."
That has to be the mindset of the Mizzou Tigers in this year's Braggin Rights game.
Gates has to motivate the Tigers just like Herb Brooks did in the Miracle on Ice game.
Underwood will play the role of the Russian coach, Viktor Tikhonov.
In fact, it was like UConn played a similar game against the "Illinois Transylvanians."
That has to be the mindset of the Mizzou Tigers in this year's Braggin Rights game.
Gates has to motivate the Tigers just like Herb Brooks did in the Miracle on Ice game.
Underwood will play the role of the Russian coach, Viktor Tikhonov.
Re: loss to UConn
Big win at Ohio State last night. Once again, Wagler with another excellent game - 23 points and 5 assists, and Mirkovic was fantastic with 22 pts including 4 of 5 three pointers and 8 for 8 on free throws. He also led the team with 9 rebounds. Stojakovic with 17 pts including 7 of 7 FT. The Illini shot 29 of 32 from the charity stripe and 11 of 27 from 3 pt. range. Out rebounded the Buckeyes 33-24. Defensively they contained all OSU players except Thornton, who scored 32 pts.
Re: loss to UConn
solid road win to open league play
Wagler is really coming on since he seemed he got rattled by Alabama. He is playing with more poise and letting the game come to him. I liked his confidence when he recognized a matchup advantage after a switch.
I thought that was Big Z's best game of the year. 13 pts and 8 boards in 19 mins off the bench goes a long way to getting a W.
29-32 from FT always makes me happy and it's hard to lose with 29 FTs.
I still would like to see some change up in D. I mean, they didn't panic even though Thornton went off in the first and Boswell got into foul trouble. There's no way he's going to shoot 90% the whole game, but maybe a D change to a matchup zone after run gives you lead and timeout could really slow down any responding surge.
Wagler is really coming on since he seemed he got rattled by Alabama. He is playing with more poise and letting the game come to him. I liked his confidence when he recognized a matchup advantage after a switch.
I thought that was Big Z's best game of the year. 13 pts and 8 boards in 19 mins off the bench goes a long way to getting a W.
29-32 from FT always makes me happy and it's hard to lose with 29 FTs.
I still would like to see some change up in D. I mean, they didn't panic even though Thornton went off in the first and Boswell got into foul trouble. There's no way he's going to shoot 90% the whole game, but maybe a D change to a matchup zone after run gives you lead and timeout could really slow down any responding surge.
Re: loss to UConn
Underwood said after the loss to the "bug eaters", that the Illini "stunk" in the game. I agree that certain players and certain aspects of the team's performance did smell awful. The defense was bad, and this trend is troubling. When players like Sandfort and Thornton score 30+ vs Illinois when they only average about 17-21 ppg., something is very wrong. Underwood was tardy in adjusting to covering the red-hot Sandfort (who scored Nebraska's first 15 points), and by the time he was slowed down in the 2nd half - Mast and Garcia heated up. I have to give Hoiberg a lot of credit for his strategy in this game, and his son made a great decision on his assist to Lawrence on the game winning 3 pointer. The Huskers' plan was for Sandfort to get that shot, but when he was not open, Lawrence was.
Underwood claimed that Mirkovic was so bad early in the game that he could not play him anymore. It is alarming that he was so ineffective after having such a great game vs OSU. Boswell, Wagler, and Stojakovic all had solid performances, but other than the clutch 3 pointer which tied the game at 80, Tomi Ivisic had little offensive impact in the game.
Plenty of time for the team to prepare for the border war game in St. Louis. Hope the Illini can prevent one of the Tigers from exploding for double their average PPG.
Underwood claimed that Mirkovic was so bad early in the game that he could not play him anymore. It is alarming that he was so ineffective after having such a great game vs OSU. Boswell, Wagler, and Stojakovic all had solid performances, but other than the clutch 3 pointer which tied the game at 80, Tomi Ivisic had little offensive impact in the game.
Plenty of time for the team to prepare for the border war game in St. Louis. Hope the Illini can prevent one of the Tigers from exploding for double their average PPG.
Re: loss to UConn
once again the Illini just seem reluctant to do things to take advantage of size advantage(s). I get that Nebraska likes to pack the paint on D and invite teams to chuck up 30+ treys, but there's gotta be more ways to counter that than have all 5 guys stand around the 3 pt line and ask Stoya and Wagler to beat their guy and a help guy on a dribble drive to the lane. Ivisic not only had just the 1 made shot with 10 seconds left, he had only 2 shot attempts prior, both also treys. At some point don't you as a coach say "none of their bigs are as skilled as Tomi, get him the ball within 10 feet of the basket and let him go to work". ???? no cutters, no back screens ...there's a lot of skill sets on this team, but it seems like we're already a predictable and defendable offense.
Not sure what can be done on D. I mean Toppin from TT went off for 35, Philon from Bama had 21, even the guy from Colgate had 24, and now Thornton and Sandfort. Of course, we're 3-2 in those games... We switched to a zone and suddenly couldn't defend the paint.
Frustrating.
The early part of the league schedule is pretty easy. Maybe they can string 8 wins before going into Purdue Jan 24.
Not sure what can be done on D. I mean Toppin from TT went off for 35, Philon from Bama had 21, even the guy from Colgate had 24, and now Thornton and Sandfort. Of course, we're 3-2 in those games... We switched to a zone and suddenly couldn't defend the paint.
Frustrating.
The early part of the league schedule is pretty easy. Maybe they can string 8 wins before going into Purdue Jan 24.