It was a rowdy crowd in Champaign on Tuesday night for Illinois’ (7-2, 1-1) Big Ten home opener against No. 20 Wisconsin (8-3, 0-2). The Illini had three starters in double figures who combined for 66 points, and they outrebounded the Badgers by 11 to get the win, 86-80. It was a solid bounce back from a road loss to Northwestern to open the conference schedule last Friday, a good sign for Illinois ahead of its matchup with No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday.
*Kylan Boswell (A-): Junior guard Kylan Boswell was one of three Illini in double figures in their win over the Badgers. Boswell scored 19 points on 5-11 shooting, including 2-6 from three. He also added six assists, which tied for his season high, along with four rebounds. Boswell has been streaky on offense this season, but against Wisconsin, he easily had one of his better games.
“It’s a matter of time before he (Boswell) was going to get it going,” said Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard.
Boswell’s on-ball defensive pressure also continued to be excellent. The Champaign native grabbed two steals and helped limit Wisconsin graduate student guard John Tonje to 5-15 shooting.
“One of coach’s biggest things with these really talented dudes that come into these games is to cut their water off,” Boswell said. “For us, that’s kind of our mentality on the court.”
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*Kasparas Jakucionis (A): Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis will be a lottery pick. He might even go in the top 10 or higher if he continues the way he’s been playing. Jakucionis dropped a career-high 24 points on 9-15 shooting, including an impressive 4-8 in three-pointers. It was his fourth 20-point game in a row.
Jakucionis’ ability to create space for himself and knock down highly contested threes was evident in this matchup. The Lithuanian did this multiple times, including executing a four-point play. Not only did he score, but Jakucionis showcased his all-around game, grabbing six rebounds and five assists.
“He’s absolutely dominating every game, and it’s insane,” Boswell said about Jakucionis. “I love what he’s doing right now, and I’m so happy for him.”
*Tre White (A): This was a breakout game for junior guard Tre White. He was the energizer for the Illini, making hustle plays and grabbing four of his eight rebounds on the offensive end. Offensive rebounding was a focus for the team after head coach Brad Underwood named it a primary reason for the loss to Northwestern on Friday.
“I try to hold my hat on that,” White said. “Just trying to give our team extra possessions. We’re so talented all around, so if I can just get my hand on there and give us an extra possession, that’s probably an extra point for us.”
White also put the ball in the basket at a high level. He scored 23 points on a very efficient 6-8 shooting, including 2-3 from three. He also lived at the free throw line, knocking down 9-10 attempts. It was easily the best game of the season offensively for White, which was much needed after he only scored four points across the team’s last two contests.
“Tonight, he stepped up and met the challenge,” Underwood said about White. “It’s no coincidence because he had two of the best practices he’s had all year leading up to this.”
*Ben Humrichous (D): Graduate student forward Ben Humrichous’ shooting struggles continued against Wisconsin. After shooting 1-9 from three against Northwestern, Humrichous shot 1-5 from deep in this contest. In 26 minutes, Humrichous finished with four points and four fouls, adding another inefficient game to his Big Ten resume.
Despite his performance, Underwood defended Humrichous after the game. He even credited his defense, which has been under fire after being dominated in the paint by junior forward Nick Martinelli at Northwestern.
“Everybody’s talking about Ben and this or that; Ben’s been our highest-graded defender because you guys (media) have no idea what we’re trying to do,” Underwood said. “And he’s been our highest-graded defender in six of our first seven games. He does a great job there. He missed a couple looks that he normally makes.”
*Tomislav Ivisic (B): Sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic had his first real off game of the year, but it was still a decent performance. Ivisic grabbed 11 rebounds and scored nine points. It was his first game of the season without scoring in double figures. That was due to his inefficient shooting; Ivisic shot 4-12 from the field, including 1-5 from deep.
Despite an off-shooting night, Ivisic’s ability to rebound at a high level and draw bigger defenders out of the paint was on full display, and his near double-double was still a very solid effort.
“I’m disappointed he didn’t make the layup in the first half; he would’ve had another double-double,” Underwood said. “He makes the game look easy. It didn’t call on him to make a lot of threes tonight. They did a good job in their late switches. But again, I think he’s at the top of what teams have to scout for.”
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (C-): Sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn played 12 minutes on Tuesday and got off four shots but only made one. Gibbs-Lawhorn really didn’t do much else besides grabbing a rebound and registering a foul.
Will Riley (C): Freshman forward Will Riley was a relative non-factor for Illinois, fading into the background behind a stellar night from White. Riley only played 15 minutes, his lowest of the season, and scored five points on 2-4 shooting. His two buckets came off a cutting layup and a putback layup. From the little bit he did play, Riley showed nothing spectacular or negative. Still, he will need to increase his production when Illinois faces a strong test in the form of the top team in the country: Tennessee.
Morez Johnson Jr. (C-): After an efficient performance in limited minutes against Northwestern, freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr. didn’t do much against Wisconsin. Johnson played 13 minutes but missed all three of his shot attempts. His four rebounds, however, were on par with his other games this season.
Jake Davis (C-): Sophomore forward Jake Davis played five minutes and failed to score but did pick up a rebound, an assist and two fouls. Davis’ limited minutes haven’t given anyone a real view of his game, and he’ll continue to be a low-usage piece for Underwood and his staff this season.
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