After the Illini dismantled the Oregon Ducks 80-54 Tuesday on Senior Night at State Farm Center, emotions were high and Illini nation was celebrating. But after the euphoria, the question becomes: Is Illinois back?
Just as their victory over Missouri on Dec. 22 sparked a 12-game winning streak for the Illini, a run that included three wins against top-20 teams — including two impressive victories over #4 Purdue and #5 Nebraska — the loss in OT at East Lansing on Feb. 7 triggered a serious backslide
for Illinois that would see them go 2-4, including three OT losses. The worst of those came on the road at UCLA, where the Illini had a 23-point lead at the 9:27 mark of the first half, only to lead by 7 at halftime. They then lost in OT on a length of the court drive by Donovan Dent in only 4 seconds to lose by one. Then the domination of Illinois by Michigan, losing by 14 at home. The two wins in the middle of all of this were runaway victories vs. Indiana, 71-51, and USC, 101-65. But they didn’t feel like they were “team wins”. They were more of a step-through practice.
Against Oregon on Tuesday, that had a different feeling as the Illini missed 7 of their first 8 shots and found themselves down 9-3 in the early stages. Then the light switch flipped, and the Illini seemed to find the offensive rhythm that had shown so much success early in the season. There was confidence, and on a night when freshman Phenom Keaton Wagler was having offensive issues, Andrej Stojakovic and David Mirkovic said, “no problem, we got this.”
The only blemish on an otherwise impressive performance was the second-half three-point shooting. After shooting a blistering 46.6% in the first half (7-15). They were only 3-21(14.29%) in the second half. They made up for that by scoring in the paint, on 11 of 17 shots. They took care of the basketball, dishing out 13 assists vs. just six turnovers.
Stojakovic looked like he was back to early-season form, driving the lane and finding the crease to the basket. He was also a horse on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds (nine of those on the defensive) to go with his 21 points for his second double-double of the season. Overall, the Illini’s rebounding was a big difference in the game, with the Illini outrebounding the Ducks by +12. Illinois had 34 defensive rebounds vs. Oregon’s nine offensive rebounds.
Illinois’ defense after the first five minutes was like a wall, as the Ducks did not score from the 15:11 mark of the first half, when it was 9-3, until the 8:46 mark, that accounted for a 21-0 run for Illinois. They steadily built a 20-point lead at the half. Absent any real inside threat, Oregon turned to the arc, and the results were not good from there either, as it shot a woeful 17.2% for the game from three-point land. The Illini defense was stifling and physical, and yet only committed nine fouls (five by Mirkovic).
While there were many positives, this was against a lower-tier conference foe, so one would expect good things to happen. Stojakovic being back at 100% gives the Illini more firepower going forward and will undoubtedly take pressure off Keaton Wagler and Kylan Boswell.
However, Tuesday’s slow start and the second-half drop-off in three-point shooting are real concerns. In four of the last seven games, Illinois has shot worse from the three-point line in the second half, with the mark twice under 15%. Also, slow starts against teams like Wisconsin and Oregon raise concerns as we get into tournament time. Coach Underwood mentioned after the game on Tuesday that they are finally back at “full strength” (minus Ty Rodgers) with Stojakovic fully recovered from his ankle sprain and Boswell back from his hand injury. The rotation of play should get back to normal.
One thing Underwood has been able to do is rally the troops after a crushing loss. But once the Big Dance starts, if you are tapped on the shoulder, you go home. Many analysts still believe the Illini can be there on the final weekend, we shall see.
