If there was any question Brad Underwood’s team can compete this season, they’re stepping up to the challenge with two big road wins in the last five days.
Brad Underwood and the Illini secured their fifth
straight win on Sunday, defeating Iowa 75-69 in Iowa City. The Illini were led by one of the hottest freshman players not only in the Big Ten, but in the country, in Keaton Wagler. The Illini walked into Carver Hawkeye Arena, a place where the Illini have not seen much success.
This Illinois team was unfazed as Wagler scored 19 points, snared five rebounds, and dished out four assists. He was supported by 17 points each from Andrej Stojakovic and Kylan Boswell. David Mirkovic led the team in rebounding with 12 boards and led the team in assists with five. The Illini opened up with an 8-0 lead and never looked back. The Illini increased the lead to 18 points with 7:34 remaining. Boswell would get a tip-in with 31 seconds left to give Illinois an 11-point lead at the half. The first seven minutes of the second half were about even. Then, the Illini took a 17-point lead at the 11:25 mark. Iowa followed that with a 16-4 run to cut the lead to 5 with 6:34 to go and cut the Illini lead to four with 1:26 to go. The rest of the scoring came from the free throw line, with the Illini coming out on top 4-2 for the final 75-69 tally.
The Illini won the battle of the boards 38-31, with 29 of those coming on the defensive end. They outshot the Hawkeyes 49.1 to 40.9 from the floor and 35.7 to 31 beyond the arc. They had only nine turnovers, compared with Iowa’s 13. But Iowa had 36 points off the bench, while Illinois had eight. The Illini held the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer, Bennett Stritz (18 ppg), to just 12. For their efforts, the Illini rose from No. 16 to No. 13 in the AP poll.
Then a trip to Evanston on Wednesday to tame a scrappy bunch of Wildcats. Losers of their first five Big Ten contests, Northwestern has kept it close early on, with only one loss by more than 10 points (to Michigan State). Northwestern featured the country’s leading scorer in Nick Martinelli with seven straight 20-point games. In a back-and-forth first half that saw Wagler (15.7 ppg) get only 2 points, while Martinelli had 11 and Jayden Reid would add 8 off the bench.
Tomislav Ivisic and Boswell countered with 16 points between the two. After the dust had settled, the Illini would lead by 5 at the half. In the second half, Wagler stepped out of the phone booth with a BIG Orange I on his chest and notched 13 points in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza. He would end up with 22 for the game, scoring in double-digits for the ninth game in a row and 14 out of 17 games this season. Ivisic would get going as well, hitting from three-point land three times in the second half, twice in 40 seconds. (He would score from deep 4 times in the game and notch 21 points for the game, tying his season-high.)
Martinelli scored 20 points for the seventh straight game, and Reid came up big with 28 points. The Illini played good enough defense down the stretch while Ivisic and Wagler would seal the deal, scoring the last 10 Illinois points to secure the win. With the win, the Illini are a perfect 4-0 in the Big Ten on the road. Up next is an 11 a.m. tip-off at the State Farm Center against Minnesota. A win against Minnesota could very well get the Illini into the top-10.
A few quick thoughts on the Illini women.
Shauna Green’s Illini came away with a big win after two tough losses to No. 24 Michigan State and No. 19 Ohio State. They traveled to University Park and took on the Lady Lions from Penn State, including Gracie Merkle (18.8PPG) who is one of the best scorers in the league.
Barry Wallace and Maddie Webber took turns putting up huge games and led the Illini to a clear-cut win. Berry Wallace starred, scoring the first 12 points for the Illini in the first quarter, and would add 7 more in the second quarter, on her way to 28 points for the game. She was a one-woman wrecking crew.
Not to be outdone, Webber would notch 13 of her 26 points in the third quarter and make life miserable for Penn State.
The Illini committed 21 turnovers, resulting in 31 Penn State points, but they outscored the Lady Lions 20-13 on second-chance points and 12-8 on fast-break points. The Illini shot 59.6% from the floor, 50% from the arc, and 86% from the free-throw line. They held Penn State to 43.3% from the floor, 35.7 from the arc, and 75% from the charity stripe.
Shuana Green’s team is 14-3 and plays Thursday at No. 8 Michigan.
I think there is very little doubt that Illini basketball is on the rise, and the ceiling is high for both!
