No. 6 Illinois (22-12) battled past a physical No. 11 Xavier (22-12) in the first round of March Madness on Friday night, 86-73. The Illini had four players in double figures, shot the ball well, got on the glass and hyped up a crowd full of fans wearing orange and blue.
“I thought there was an excitement with this group about the opportunity,” said head coach Brad Underwood.
Aggressive offense counters aggressive defense
This was as physical a game as the Illini have encountered all year. Xavier was extremely aggressive on the defensive end, playing tough on-ball defense and not being afraid to get handsy. That resulted in the Illini turning the ball over eight times in the first half. Illinois was frustrated at the large number of no-calls, but the referees let the two teams play on.
Illinois did not shy away from the uber-aggressive Xavier defense, however. The Illini countered with a pedal-to-the-metal offensive mentality, drawing fouls and getting to the line often. They shot 10 first-half free throws, compared to only four for the Musketeers, and they converted all 10.
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“Try to keep the pressure on them as well,” said junior guard Tre White. “You know, with aggressive teams, you’ve got to be aggressive back, so I feel like we did a good job of that.”
Freshman guard Kasparas Jakučionis made six of those free throws, and he was aggressive in other ways as well. The projected lottery pick grabbed four first-half rebounds, including two on the offensive end, and dished out four assists.
Only one turnover for the freshman in the opening 20 minutes was a good sight to see after a Big Ten tournament run in which Jakučionis did not take care of the ball well. His shots may not have been falling, (1-5 from the field), but the young star found other ways to have a positive impact.
‘Big T’ a big part of first-half offense
Sophomore center Tomislav Ivišić was instrumental in Illinoisʼ first-half success. After missing his first two three-pointers, the Croatian big man, nicknamed “Big T” started to heat up. Ivišić hit his next three triples, ending the half 3-5 from deep. Add in two shots down low, and he finished with a team-leading 13 first-half points.
“Even if I missed the third one I would still keep shooting,” Ivišić said. “That’s my role here. If I’m open, shoot it. I believe in my shot even if some don’t go in. Today, what you said, three in a row went in.”
Ivišić played 18 first-half minutes. Underwood stuck with him as the primary big man throughout the first half, with freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr. and graduate student forward Ben Humrichous each only playing six of the first 20 minutes.
Xavier hot from deep early
Illinois shot it well from beyond the arc in the first half, going 6-13 on the back of Ivišić’s three triples. However, Xavier responded with a barrage of their own. The Musketeers shot 7-14 from three in the first 20 minutes, often capitalizing on Illinois giving them too much room.
Sophomore wing Dailyn Swain and graduate student guard Dante Maddox Jr. both went 2-3 from deep in the first half. Two 7-0 runs by Illinois at different points in the half got the crowd on their feet, but they were both ended by Xavier three-pointers.
Ultimately though, the three of the half went to Illinois, with junior guard Kylan Boswell draining an isolation step-back three at the buzzer to send the two teams into halftime. The Illini led 40-35 at the break.
“I’ve been working on that shot a lot this week,” Boswell said. “That’s one of my go-to’s in the late clock.”
Will Rileyʼs run boosts Illini in second half
The second half began with Xavier and Illinois neck-and-neck, trading buckets over the first six minutes or so. But with only 11:57 remaining in the game, Illinois led 62-48, their largest lead of the game. One player led that charge: a freshman making his March Madness debut.
Freshman forward Will Riley turned into a pure scoring machine for a minute and a half, single-handedly racking up a 7-0 run. Back-to-back dunks off of smart cuts gave Riley four quick points, and an isolation three-pointer made the Illini crowd get even louder.
Bursts like these showcase the potential Riley has at the next level, likely as a first-round draft pick this summer. He started the game 0-3 but ended the game hitting eight of his last nine shots, scoring 18 points in the second half.
“I knew I needed to lock in in the second half,” Riley said. “I started off very slow I’d say, just missing a few layups there. I just kept talking to myself, like ‘You got this, you got this.’ Kept being positive, and eventually, things started to click.”
Illinois closes after late Xavier push
Xavier tested Illinois’ late second-half defense with an offensive outburst of their own. The Musketeers went on a 7-0 run with under seven minutes remaining, cutting the Illini lead to only seven. Illinois’ transition defense did not look good over this stretch, with Xavier getting to the rim relatively easily.
“Definitely gave up a couple (transition points) that we could’ve took away,” White said.
The Illini were also on a three-minute scoring drought which definitely did not boost their energy in the moment. Turnovers in the second half also increased, including for Jakučionis (five in the final 20 minutes), who is always self-critical of his own mistakes.
“Some turnovers were of course pretty bad,” Jakučionis. “It’s the first game in this stage, but this is the area I need to improve. Overall, I’m happy for the team performance and how we handled their defense.”
As Underwood has said all year, eventually the shots fell. Riley ended the Illinois drought with a three from the wing that drew cheers, and maybe some relief, from the Illini faithful. Follow that up with a Jakučionis fast-break layup, and Illinois’ lead was back up to 13.
“We’re handling those (late game) situations much, much better,” Underwood said. “Just having been through them and kind of living in the moment. Understanding Kylan’s a resounding personality on the court in those moments, and I thought we did a nice job.”
Xavier’s tough defense did not stop, forcing a last-second heave by Riley at the end of the shot clock with just under two minutes to go. To the surprise of everyone, the prayer rattled in, adding three more points to Rileyʼs hot second half. The crowd went even more wild, and that about ended it for the Illini in their opening round game of the NCAA tournament. The final buzzer sounded with the No. 6 seed in front, 86-73.
“The crowd was special tonight,” Jakučionis said. “We played in Milwaukee, but it looked like we played in State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois.”
Three-point shooting, rebounding, all-around play make Illinois tough to beat
Illinois finished the game a stellar 12-30 from three and out-rebounded Xavier 45-25. It was a full team effort, with four players scoring in double figures.
Boswell was efficient from the field, scoring 15 points on 5-8 shooting, including 3-4 from three. His defense was also strong as usual. Boswell shut down junior guard Ryan Conwell, holding the Xavier star to 3-10 shooting from the field.
“I watched a ton of film on him last night,” Boswell said. “He’s a really really talented dude, so I feel like I did a great job, and I think watching that film helped me (with) little tendencies and stuff like that. … Took that very serious. Now I’ve got to watch (Kentucky graduate student guard) Lamont (Butler).”
Riley also shot the ball at a high clip, making eight of his 12 attempts from the floor, which includes going 3-4 from deep. Riley’s 22 points were the most ever by an Illini freshman in an NCAA tournament game.
Riley’s fellow freshman, Jakučionis, had a spectacular night of his own. He was one rebound away from a triple double, notching 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Rounding out the Illini in double figures was Ivišić, who dropped 20 points on 4-9 shooting from three, along with 10 rebounds. He set a record for the most three-pointers made by a 7-footer in an NCAA Tournament game.
When everything is clicking for the Illini, as it did on Friday night, they are a scary squad for any team to face. Next up is a showdown with No. 3 Kentucky (23-11) on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.
“I just think every game we just keep improving and progressing,” Ivišić said. “I’m glad that we’re here and we have the opportunity to play Kentucky in the next game.”
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