CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It was an emotional Tuesday night at State Farm Center as the Illini faithful bid farewell to their seniors, and it ended quite perfectly.
No. 11 Illinois rediscovered its identity on both sides of the floor in its final home game of the season, taking down Oregon 80-54 in the first ever matchup between the two teams at State Farm Center.
The dominant win over the Ducks keeps Illinois’ hopes alive for an NCAA tournament two-seed and takes them one step closer to securing a more comfortable
position in the Big Ten Tournament. If the Illini can take down the Terrapins at College Park Sunday, a triple-bye is locked down.
With 6:05 to go in the first half, the “hometown hero” Kylan Boswell nailed a triple to get the crowd going. Just a minute and a half later, Ben Humrichous drilled his own. As both of them checked out of the game with four minutes left in the second half, the crowd stood up and took a moment to applaud.
A mix of appreciation and sadness.
Boswell’s unselfishness will be missed. A player who always makes a massive impact, and isn’t afraid to let his teammates shine at the expense of his own glory if it means it’ll help the team win.
He noted that every time he hears his name in the starting lineup, it “makes the butterflies go away.” After finding his way back home, the hometown hero heard that for the last time of his memorable college career Tuesday night.
And then there’s Humrichous, a guy who not only stepped foot in Champaign and immersed himself in the culture of Illinois hoops immediately, but also cares about helping his team win above all. And after his first year in Orange and Blue, Humrichous took the next step both physically and mentally to help his team win.
And before he goes off to work the job he landed with Larry Gies, Illini fans were delighted to watch former team manager A.J. Redd play his last three minutes in an Illinois uniform.
It didn’t take long for him to launch a deep three in hopes of getting the crowd riled up. After an airball, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood let him have it during the timeout.
But with 50 seconds to go, Mihailo Petrovic bounced the ball through his legs back to Redd, who stood right behind the three-point line.
This time, he knocked it down.
“No one loves A.J. Redd more than Brad Underwood,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood.
The Illini faithful started chanting his name. And just a few seconds later, he took it to the hoop and gently put it in off the glass, scoring Illinois’ last five points of the season at State Farm Center.
“With how great of a teammate he is, and how much he dedicated himself to the system, he deserved that shot for sure,” said freshman forward David Mirkovic.
After a deflating 84-70 loss against No. 3 Michigan last Friday night, it was clear that this team needed a mental reset. That started with reinforcing the principles that this team live on.
Ben Humrichous attributed some of those defensive struggles to playing them “one-on-one”. But with a few days of practice in between, Illinois had a chance to emphasize and revert to team defense, the same defense that played a big role in the Illini’s 12-game win streak and allowed their historically efficient offense to flourish.
That team defense was on display Tuesday night.
“I thought our little things, our contest rate, our mentality of protecting the paint, was as good as it’s been in some time,” Underwood said.
Mirkovic echoed that even further.
“Everyone was in gaps,” he said. “That was an emphasis the last two practices. That was the main reason we had 12 wins in a row and we were recognizable as one of the best teams in the country.”
But is it possible for the Illini to consistently bring this defense every game?
“I’m disappointed that it slips. It’s all we worked on. We didn’t even work on offense for this game,” Underwood said. “It’s just getting the mentality….when we get in trouble we get selfish defensively and then we take it as ‘well my guy scored’. It’s one on Illinois.”
Andrej’s big night
In the pregame press conference, Underwood touched on how to keep this group focused going forward, admitting that there was a sense of “complacency”. Underwood admitted that he’s “gotta hold them accountable” when that happens, and when this team isn’t great at what they are great at.
Then he pointed to guard Andrej Stojakovic’s increased efforts in practice after his struggles against No. 3 Michigan.
“He’s been absolutely phenomenal in practice, and he’s the healthiest he’s been in quite some time,” Underwood said.
Underwood challenged Stojakovic, knowing what he’s capable of on both sides of the court.
“I need 10 rebounds from you tonight,” he told Stojakovic.
Stojakovic took that challenge and ran with it.
“The carryover from practice to game was very evident with Andrej Stojakovic, and our team,” Underwood said.
He snagged 12 rebounds after only tallying 1 against Michigan, and finished the night with 21 points.
“We talk about how we’ve gotten away from our defensive identity, I feel like today was a good stepping stone to getting back to it,” Stojakovic said.
His talents on the offensive side speak for themselves, and are most present when he’s aggressive in other aspects of the game.
“The defense and the rebounding carrying over to my offense was probably the key,” Stojakovic said. “At halftime, all I cared about was getting to that 10 rebound mark, to be honest.”
Midway through the second half, he tossed a lob to Zvonimir Ivisic from half-court. Big Z flushed it home despite the foul. Stojakovic immediately looked towards the Illini bench.
“We’ve had a lot of those passes in practice not work,” Stojakovic said. “I was just happy I looked at Tyler Underwood and we smiled at each other.”
When this version of Stojakovic shows up, it adds a whole new component to an offense that likes to shoot a lot of three-pointers.
“We have a lot of shooters in our team, and it’s really important to have someone that can dunk on someone every game,” Mirkovic said.
Underwood interpreted it a bit differently.
“When he rebounds at a high level, we get some easy baskets in transition,” Underwood said.
Good thing he did Tuesday night.
“We didn’t really shoot the ball great,” Underwood said. “It was nice, we didn’t have to rely on Keaton and the other guys as much.”
After dropping a double-double against Michigan, David Mirkovic nearly did it again Tuesday night with 19 points and seven rebounds.
The freshman seems to be consistently making an impact in multiple areas: on the boards, in the paint and from the perimeter. At this time of year, that could play a huge factor for Illinois in the Big Ten Tourney and in March.
“He’s elite,” Underwood said. “His IQ is off the charts, and he’s still growing.”
On the other hand, Underwood isn’t worried about Tomislav Ivisic’s recent shooting struggles.
“No one’s got more confidence in Tomi than I do.”
Underwood praised a different aspect of his game.
“He had a 98% go rate on the glass which is elite,” Underwood said. “What I want him to do is keep shooting every ball.”
It was a refreshing night for the Illini. Now, the question is whether they can build on this or not.
