No. 4 Illinois (2-2, 1-1) made uncharacteristic mistakes in a defeat to No. 6 Michigan (5-2, 1-1) on Saturday. It was Illinois’ widest point differential loss this season, 315.540-322.100.
The Illini defeated the Wolverines earlier this season. However, the team couldn’t put together a complete set of strong performances against the Wolverines squad this time.
As the first half of the season has ended for Illinois, here are three questions fans may be asking themselves going into the final stretch before the postseason in March.
Should Dang be considered best specialist in the country?
In his sophomore campaign, Brandon Dang is currently No. 2 in the national rankings on pommel horse. His consistent performances in this event put the Illini at No. 1 in the country for pommel horse.
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Dang has not lost an individual event title on the pommel horse this season. His scores don’t indicate he will be slowing down any time soon.
In a night of disappointing finishes last weekend in Ann Arbor, Dang was yet again a bright spot for the Illini. The sophomore put up a season-high score of 14.800 to take home the event title. It was his fourth consecutive title this season.
If Dang can keep up these impressive showings and high scores in the second half of the season, there’s no doubt he will be a favorite to win the national title on the pommel horse come April. A national title would be redemption for Dang after finishing third in the event as a freshman.
Are parallel bars a legitimate concern?
Illinois may have moved up to No. 6 in the national parallel bars rankings this week, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Out of six events in men’s gymnastics, the Illini have been ranked in the top five in every event at some point, except for parallel bars.
The weakness was apparent this past weekend, especially when squaring off against a Michigan squad that is ranked No. 1. All four of Michigan’s gymnasts outscored Illinois on the parallel bars. The highest score from an Illinois gymnast came from sophomore Dylan Shepard. He posted a 13.550 to take fifth place.
Although the Illini’s parallel bar struggle hasn’t affected previous meets, Saturday proved it has an impact. Additionally, Illinois struggled on vault, arguably its most successful event going into the contest. The only Illinois gymnast who scored in the top three on vault was freshman Ian Sandoval. The first-year scored a 13.600 to capture third place for his Illinois squad.
Who needs to step up going into second half of the season?
With Sam Phillips still sidelined from an injury, Sandoval has stepped up for the Illini in the all-around competition. However, after putting on a stellar performance against Nebraska (0-1) on Jan. 31, Sandoval struggled against Michigan with a singular event title in the all-around.
Even though he earned a career-high of 13.850 on the pommel horse, the events Sandoval had won first-place titles for the previous week were the ones he struggled in the most. Sandoval finished last on floor and the parallel bars in his all-around first-place finish.
As there is no rumor that Phillips will be returning any time soon, Sandoval will continue to be the go-to all-around competitor for the Illini. However, he will need more consistency in scores on his strongest events for the Illini to remain at the top of the standings coming down the stretch this season.
Sandoval will compete in the Winter Cup on Feb. 21-23. This will be the perfect opportunity for him to regain confidence after this weekend.
Another gymnast who can make a difference for this team in this half of the season is sophomore Garrett Schooley. Schooley was part of the Big Ten Preseason Watch List and has had a spectacular season. He even sat at the top of the NCAA vault rankings last week.
While Schooley has dropped down to No. 3 in the national vault rankings this week after finishing in a fourth-place tie on vault this weekend, there is no doubt he will be able to bounce back come the beginning of March.
The Illini will be back in action after the Winter Cup break on March 1 at Huff Hall against Army (3-6) and Greenville (1-1) at 1 p.m.
