First, let's review our keys to the game.
Walking wounded - Illinois was still not 100% with Tre White hardly playing and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn limited due to flu. Still, Tomislav Ivisic sucking it up and playing hurt may have been the biggest key to the game for Illinois. Besides stuffing the stats with 18 points and 11 rebounds, his defense around the rim was impactful. The Gophers went just 8-for-21 on layups, and a lot of that was because of Ivisic changing shots.
Get the old KJ back - Jakucionis broke out of his slump. When you're not making shots you try to just let the game come to you and pick your spots. KJ got in the lane, cut to the bucket for dishes from Ivisic, and drew fouls. Then I thought the wide open 3 that he made early in the second half was a turning point that built up his confidence. He played both on and off the ball, which took some pressure off.
Speed them up - It was only a 59 possession game, but Illinois did have more success in pushing the tempo than most teams do against Minnesota. The Gophers play at the slowest pace in the Big Ten and one of the slowest in the country. There were times when Illinois turned defensive rebounds into easy buckets. They finished with 10 fast break points, which is a lot against Minnesota. 95 points is the most the Gophers have allowed this season. The Illini scored 1.610 points per possession.
More thoughts....
* Minnesota didn't do anything to slow Will Riley down when he went on a heater. The scouting report should have said deny him the ball on the perimeter, then bump him off balance when he gets in the lane. Minnesota did neither and they didn't bring any help when Riley blew by his defender. The Illini just kept feeding Riley, winding him up, and letting him go. 36.8 usage rate.
* Not much ball pressure from Minnesota, which is perplexing considering Illinois had been turning it over at a high rate. No hands in passing lanes either. When you give Illinois that kind of freedom of movement, its offensive execution improves exponentially. The Illini had 21 assists on 36 made field goals (58%) and just 6 turnovers. The Illini guards had 2 total turnovers combined.
* Underwood said in the post game that he did address the shot selection. The idea was to start out going to the rim, then work their way out. The 16 three point attempts were a season low. Illinois shot 56% from 3 and 66% from two, went 17-for-23 at the rim, and outscored Minnesota in the paint 50-26.
* Underwood has been asking a lot from Morez Johnson defensively. With the big lineup, he has to check players who are smaller and quicker. He has some issues staying square and defending them without fouling. He also gets called for some fouls just because he's a bull in a china shot an outmuscles guys for 50-50 balls.
* Illinois has a history of letting the opponent's best player take over games (see Dylan Harper). Not so tonight. Dawson Garcia (12) had his lowest point total in the last 10 games. He scored 5 points in a loss to Ohio State back in January then scored at least 19 points in the next 8 games. His 6 rebounds against Illinois was also below his season average.
* Illinois has a great freshman class. The downside is that a young team can have issues handling adversity, and they've went through that lately. They also can struggle handling success. When the Illini strings together a few buckets they have a tendency to stop their own momentum by reverting to quick shots and making the hard pass instead of the easy one. Chalk it up to overconfidence. That happened against the Gophers around the 12:30 mark in the second half, but Minnesota had some horrible possession of their own and didn't capitalize.
* I like the stat line from Ben Humrichous. 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Humrichous has made an effort to be more of complete player. He has played with more physicality. It doesn't come naturally to him but he's trying.
Walking wounded - Illinois was still not 100% with Tre White hardly playing and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn limited due to flu. Still, Tomislav Ivisic sucking it up and playing hurt may have been the biggest key to the game for Illinois. Besides stuffing the stats with 18 points and 11 rebounds, his defense around the rim was impactful. The Gophers went just 8-for-21 on layups, and a lot of that was because of Ivisic changing shots.
Get the old KJ back - Jakucionis broke out of his slump. When you're not making shots you try to just let the game come to you and pick your spots. KJ got in the lane, cut to the bucket for dishes from Ivisic, and drew fouls. Then I thought the wide open 3 that he made early in the second half was a turning point that built up his confidence. He played both on and off the ball, which took some pressure off.
Speed them up - It was only a 59 possession game, but Illinois did have more success in pushing the tempo than most teams do against Minnesota. The Gophers play at the slowest pace in the Big Ten and one of the slowest in the country. There were times when Illinois turned defensive rebounds into easy buckets. They finished with 10 fast break points, which is a lot against Minnesota. 95 points is the most the Gophers have allowed this season. The Illini scored 1.610 points per possession.
More thoughts....
* Minnesota didn't do anything to slow Will Riley down when he went on a heater. The scouting report should have said deny him the ball on the perimeter, then bump him off balance when he gets in the lane. Minnesota did neither and they didn't bring any help when Riley blew by his defender. The Illini just kept feeding Riley, winding him up, and letting him go. 36.8 usage rate.
* Not much ball pressure from Minnesota, which is perplexing considering Illinois had been turning it over at a high rate. No hands in passing lanes either. When you give Illinois that kind of freedom of movement, its offensive execution improves exponentially. The Illini had 21 assists on 36 made field goals (58%) and just 6 turnovers. The Illini guards had 2 total turnovers combined.
* Underwood said in the post game that he did address the shot selection. The idea was to start out going to the rim, then work their way out. The 16 three point attempts were a season low. Illinois shot 56% from 3 and 66% from two, went 17-for-23 at the rim, and outscored Minnesota in the paint 50-26.
* Underwood has been asking a lot from Morez Johnson defensively. With the big lineup, he has to check players who are smaller and quicker. He has some issues staying square and defending them without fouling. He also gets called for some fouls just because he's a bull in a china shot an outmuscles guys for 50-50 balls.
* Illinois has a history of letting the opponent's best player take over games (see Dylan Harper). Not so tonight. Dawson Garcia (12) had his lowest point total in the last 10 games. He scored 5 points in a loss to Ohio State back in January then scored at least 19 points in the next 8 games. His 6 rebounds against Illinois was also below his season average.
* Illinois has a great freshman class. The downside is that a young team can have issues handling adversity, and they've went through that lately. They also can struggle handling success. When the Illini strings together a few buckets they have a tendency to stop their own momentum by reverting to quick shots and making the hard pass instead of the easy one. Chalk it up to overconfidence. That happened against the Gophers around the 12:30 mark in the second half, but Minnesota had some horrible possession of their own and didn't capitalize.
* I like the stat line from Ben Humrichous. 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Humrichous has made an effort to be more of complete player. He has played with more physicality. It doesn't come naturally to him but he's trying.
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