It was the first road game of the season for No. 25 Illinois (3-1) on Wednesday, as they traveled to Birmingham to take on No. 8 Alabama (4-1). The Illini lost for the first time this year, falling to the Crimson Tide 87-100. Alabama was in the driver’s seat early in the first half and never looked back, leading for almost 38 out of the 40 minutes in the game.
First-half shooting struggles for Illinois
The Illini struggled to get anything to fall in the first half. The team shot 41% from the field compared to Alabama’s 53%. What hurt Illinois was its three-point shooting; they only made four in the first half on 14 attempts.
The Illini were built in the offseason to shoot the ball at a high clip, but that was nowhere to be seen in the first half. On the other hand, Alabama was led by graduate student forward Grant Nelson, who knocked down four of his seven triples in the first half. The Illini didn’t shoot it well and didn’t defend the three-point line well, either.
The Illini shot slightly better in the second half, including freshman forward Will Riley going 5-7 from the field, but their first-half hole prevented them from getting back in the game.
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“I’m proud of Will because he wasn’t very good in the first half,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “But he bounced back, showed what he’s capable of offensively.”
Illinois’ backcourt aggressive offensively
After only shooting 10 times over Illinois’ first three games, freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis was very aggressive in the first half against Alabama, scoring 13 points on 5-8 shooting. Jakucionis attacked the basket and handled Alabama’s drop coverage well, at one point using a smooth hesitation move to finish at the rim.
He finished the game with 15 points after only scoring once in the second half on five attempts, but his ability to be a primary scorer was more evident than it had been so far this year. However, Jakcuionis still needs to turn the ball over less when facing ball pressure after turning it over six times on the night.
Junior guard Kylan Boswell also had a solid game for Illinois, making a true offensive impact for the first time this season. His lockdown on-ball defense was strong during the Illini’s previous three games, but he couldn’t find a way to produce on offense. That seemed to change against Alabama. Boswell scored 17 points on 7-15 shooting. It was Boswell’s first double-digit-scoring game of the year.
“Finally got a couple layups in, and I just got more in the groove of the game, and everything was coming to me naturally,” Boswell said.
Combined, Boswell and Jakucionis scored 32 points, and they added nine assists. If this is how Boswell and Jakucionis start to play as the season progresses —provided they clean up the turnovers — they could be one of the most dangerous offensive backcourts in the nation.
Alabama: fast and physical
From the opening tip, Alabama played fast. The team ran the ball in transition and had great ball movement on offense, dishing out 23 assists compared to Illinois’ 15. Illinois looked slow overall, not pushing the ball nearly as much as Alabama. The Illini only scored five points on fast breaks, compared to a whopping 19 by the Crimson Tide.
Even when Illinois tried to speed up its pace, it was sloppy. The Illini turned the ball over 13 times, but the Crimson Tide only turned it over seven times despite playing a much faster-paced brand of basketball.
Alabama also scored much more efficiently inside the three-point line, shooting 68.3% on two-point attempts, while Illinois shot 53.7%. Alabama’s stronger inside presence allowed them to hold a firm lead throughout the game, even though it only made one more three-pointer than Illinois. The Illini were outscored by 12 in the paint, which is almost the exact margin they lost the game by.
Free throw percentage poor again
Illinois left 11 points on the table simply through missed free throws. Riley shot an abysmal 3-7 from the charity stripe, and Boswell also shot poorly, going 2-5. Alabama, in comparison, only missed two of its free throws.
However, it gets worse. Illinois shot 24 free throws in the game, while Alabama only shot 13. The Illini got to the line at a much higher rate, but that was useless since they could not make their free throws. They had the opportunity to make the game closer and more competitive simply off of free throws, especially when their other shots weren’t falling, but they couldn’t execute.
“You just can’t go on the road and miss as many free throws as we missed and expect to beat a good team,” Underwood said. “Those are the moments you have to eliminate.”
This has been a consistent problem for the team through four games. The Illini are only shooting 68.7 from the line, which may not matter in blowout games, but it will matter against teams like Alabama. As the schedule gets more difficult for Illinois, it will need every point it can get, and free throws are an easy way to do that.
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