Illinois (6-1) claimed its first ranked win on Thanksgiving, defeating No. 19 Arkansas (5-2) 90-77. The Illini had three players in double figures and shot an impressive 48.4% from three against a top-10 defensive team, their best performance from deep this season. It was a very strong performance from Illinois, who looked lethal on the offensive and well-coordinated on defense.
Kylan Boswell (A): Junior guard Kylan Boswell looked like the best version of himself on both ends of the floor. Boswell was aggressive on offense and had a swagger, getting downhill several times, including a hesitation move into a blow-by of his defender to finish at the rim. He was also willing to shoot the three, even though he still hadn’t found his stroke.
Overall, Boswell shot an efficient 6-10 from the field, ending up with 18 points. He also controlled the pace of the offense in tandem with freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis, racking up six assists.
On the defensive end, Boswell locked down high-profile freshman guard Boogie Fland, who shot a poor 2-12 from the field. Boswell shutting down a team’s main offensive weapon will continue to be useful for the Illini as they play higher levels of competition like the Razorbacks.
Kasparas Jakucionis (A): Jakucionis was the closer for the Illini. In the first half, Jakucionis scored eight points, a relatively typical half from the freshman. However, he turned it up in the second half.
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When Arkansas cut the Illinois lead to nine multiple times, Jakucionis didn’t let them get any further. Jakucionis went on a run at the end of the game, scoring 14 straight points for the Illini in a close to six-minute span, from the 7:55 mark to 1:59. He effectively put away the Razorbacks and challenged them to stop him from scoring.
Jakucionis finished the game with 23 points on 7-13 shooting, including 2-5 from three. One of those threes was a beautiful stepback over his teammate’s twin brother, sophomore center Zvonimir Ivisic. Jakucionis also shot 7-8 from the free-throw line, showing his ability to draw fouls at a high level, and he added six rebounds and four assists.
The freshman did turn the ball over five times, which head coach Brad Underwood said Jakucionis will play through, but otherwise, it was an almost flawless performance for Jakucionis.
Tre White (F): Ten minutes of cardio. That sums up junior forward Tre White’s performance on Thanksgiving. White’s 10 minutes were his fewest in a game this season, and it was clear why. The 6-foot-7 transfer from Louisville did not do much for the Illini, only grabbing two rebounds and committing two fouls. The one shot that he took did not fall.
A no-show performance like this raises questions about White being in the starting lineup over freshman forward Will Riley, who played 19 more minutes in the game and has been better overall this season.
Ben Humrichous (B+): Graduate student forward Ben Humrichous showed off his three-point shooting on Thanksgiving. He got Illinois on the board with a deep three from the left wing and hit one from the same spot soon after. Humrichous knocked down his third three-pointer in the second half, finishing the game with nine points on 3-4 shooting from long distance.
Humrichous did exactly what the Illini needed: He made shots at a high clip. That’s exactly what the game asked of him, especially when multiple other Illini scored in double figures. Humrichous didn’t force anything and played his role. However, he did have four fouls, which is the only real knock on his performance from Thursday.
Tomislav Ivisic (A): Sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic won the battle of the brothers, outclassing his twin Zvonimir Ivisic in their first-ever time competing against each other.
Ivisic started the game strong, swatting away a shot from Fland on the first play of the game. It only took a couple of possessions for him to get involved on offense as well, nailing a three-pointer. Ivisic was lethal from long range. He hit four threes in the first half and ended the game 6-9 from long range.
After a rough start to the season shooting the deep ball, his catch-and-shoot threes started falling. Ivisic’s shooting will be very dangerous for the Illini if he can keep it going in the future.
Ivisic ended the game with a career-high 21 points on 50% shooting, 18 of which came from threes, and 10 rebounds. It was Ivisic’s fourth double-double of the season.
Will Riley (D+): In Riley’s first 10 minutes on the court, he only registered one steal and had zeroes across the rest of the stat sheet. Riley finished the game with 29 minutes played but was very insignificant in terms of his impact on the game.
Riley hit one jumper in the first half and a deep three in the second to total five points. He shot poorly from the field, going 2-9, including an uncharacteristically bad 1-5 from three. For context, Riley entered the game shooting 54.8% from deep.
Besides his poor shooting, Riley didn’t do much else to affect the game. The freshman did not grab a single rebound and only dished out two assists.
Despite playing his worst and most inefficient game of the year, the Illini didn’t need Riley to win convincingly. Strong performances by Ivisic, Boswell and Jakucionis carried some of the weight.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (B): Sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn did not do much in his 14 minutes of play but was efficient. He shot 2-3 from the field and ended the game with five points. Gibbs-Lawhorn didn’t do anything to hurt the Illini either, not turning it over once or committing a single foul.
Morez Johnson Jr. (B+): Freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr. scored six points in 14 minutes, with all six coming on three consecutive possessions. Johnson aggressively cut to the basket in a game with high pick-and-roll usage. Two of those three possessions ended in made buckets around the rim, while one ended in two made free throws. Johnson’s physicality inside was important for the Illini, especially with their other big man, Ivisic, scoring mostly from the perimeter.
Johnson also played well on the defensive end, grabbing two steals and four rebounds. His physicality also countered Arkansas’ attempts to score close to the basket after the Illini limited their perimeter shooting.
Jake Davis (C): Sophomore swingman Jake Davis played six minutes for the Illini, and immediately after checking in, he hit a catch-and-shoot corner three. However, he quickly got into foul trouble, committing three in his very limited minutes on the court.
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