No. 8 Illinois dropped its first game of the season to No. 11 Alabama, 90-86 in a packed United Center full of orange and blue on Wednesday. As the Illini struggled to find consistency, all players revealed areas for improvement. On the bright side, the matchup featured the return of two injured Illini, junior center Tomislav Ivišić and sophomore guard Mihailo Petrovic.
Andrej Stojaković (B): When the Illini offense struggled to produce in the second half, junior wing Andrej Stojaković took matters into his own hands. Alabama decided to play a smaller lineup, and Stojaković benefited from it. The junior did what he does best, attacking the paint and scoring through traffic. Stojaković finished with 26 points on 11-16 shooting, including 2-3 from three.
Where Stojaković struggled was from the free-throw line. His three “and-one” opportunities in the second half fired up the Illini fans at the United Center, but Stojaković didn’t convert the free throw on any of them. Stojaković shot 2-5 from the free throw line in the contest. His ability to draw fouls means nothing if he doesn’t shoot a better free-throw percentage.
“(Stojaković) (is) a big, powerful, strong type finisher, and he’s truthfully as good a finisher as we’ve had,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “But, we got to get him making free throws.”
Kylan Boswell (B-): After a quiet offensive first half, senior guard Kylan Boswell came alive in the second, erupting for 20 second-half points. Outside of scoring, Boswell also dished out seven assists. Alongside Stojaković, Boswell’s contributions helped keep Illinois in the game when the offense had little ball movement. However, the senior struggled from three, going 0-4 from beyond the arc. Besides this, Boswell delivered a nearly complete offensive performance.
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On the defensive side, Boswell couldn’t stay out of foul trouble. The senior picked up his fourth foul with 6:50 left in the second half. This limited Boswell’s physicality, and Alabama sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr. took advantage. Philon Jr. put up 24 points on 9-18 shooting from the field. Boswell’s absence defensively hurt the Illini and proved how valuable he is to their success on that end of the floor.
“I was really frustrated with that,” Boswell said. “But my main focus was trying my best not to foul him, especially because I knew I was in foul trouble. He was being extremely more aggressive at that point too. It was definitely frustrating not being as physical as I’d like to be in those situations to possibly help our team get a stop.”
Keaton Wagler (C): The two areas where freshman guard Keaton Wagler stood out to start the season are the same areas where he struggled on Wednesday. Wagler didn’t crash the glass in the same way he did in Illinois’ win over Texas Tech, only grabbing three rebounds. As the Crimson Tide improved their rebounding since the loss to the Purdue Boilermakers, Wagler didn’t match that effort. The freshman also shot a season low of five free throws in the game and only made three.
Still, these top 15 matchups are great learning experiences for the Illini, especially freshmen like Wagler. Although he struggled to keep up with Alabama’s fast pace, it will only help him make the improvements necessary to be better later this season.
David Mirković (C): The first and second halves were complete opposites for freshman forward David Mirković. Coming off a historic 20/20 game against Colgate, Mirković got to work early, scoring five points in the game’s first two minutes. This dominance continued throughout the half, and he went into the locker room with 10 points and seven rebounds.
That’s where the scoring ended for Mirković, though. The freshman went 0-5 from the field and 0-1 from the free-throw line in the second half. His production was almost nonexistent for the last 20 minutes, other than the three rebounds he grabbed. Especially against Alabama’s smaller lineup, the Illini needed to use Mirković’s physicality in the paint to set themselves apart, but this didn’t happen.
Zvonimir Ivišić (D): If anyone had a size advantage over the Crimson Tide, it was junior center Zvonimir Ivišić. Yet, the junior didn’t produce on either end of the floor for the Illini. In 16 minutes of play, Ivišić had three points on 1-5 shooting and only three rebounds. In a game where Illinois needed Ivišić’s rim protection and three-point shooting, he didn’t deliver.
Tomislav Ivišić (C-): The United Center erupted in cheers when Tomislav Ivišić checked in for the first time since Illinois’ season opener on Nov. 3. Still, Ivišić’s lack of conditioning showed as he had a hard time finding his footing offensively. The junior had two turnovers and three points in 14 minutes of play. Ivišić’s return wasn’t perfect, but getting him back on the floor sooner rather than later is a good sign.
“We’ve got to get Tomi (Ivišić) into that very active, 25 to 30 minutes a game mindset,” Underwood said. “We need his intellect. We need his shooting, his passing. We need all of that. We can’t just push the button and say you’re in great shape. He’s got to play through some of that.”
Ben Humrichous (C+): In a game where the Illini lacked effort in rebounding, graduate student forward Ben Humrichous was a bright spot. Humrichous snagged six rebounds: three offensive and three defensive. His effort on the glass allowed him to contribute still, even when he struggled from three early. This is a continued improvement from his play last season.
Although he shot 1-5 from three in the first half, Humrichous didn’t let it stop him from taking threes down the stretch. The graduate student ended the game with 11 points, shooting 3-8 from three-point range.
Mihailo Petrović (C): In his debut as an Illini, Petrović showed why he will be a key player for the Illini. Petrović matched Alabama’s fast pace by highlighting his ability to naturally push the ball quickly. Along with his top-of-the-key three, Petrović also recorded five assists in only 12 minutes.
A room for improvement though, is on the defensive end. The quickness of Alabama’s guards was too much for the sophomore at times, and it hurt Illinois’ defensively. Overall, though, Petrović is sure to be an asset as he continues to develop, practice and play more in-game minutes.
“I think (Petroviċ) came out with a lot of confidence,” Boswell said. “He facilitated really well. He tried his best to guard too which I was really proud of. I think just more and more he’ll get under his belt and just get more comfortable out there.”
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