Bridgestone Arena in Nashville was rocking on Saturday night, as No. 13 Illinois (7-2) took down No. 14 Tennessee (7-3) 75-62 in front of a fully orange-clad crowd split between the two fanbases. The Illini were down by two at halftime, but they fought back hard in the second half on both ends of the floor, outscoring the Volunteers by 15.
The victory is head coach Brad Underwood’s first win over Tennessee after losing the last two years, including a heartbreaking defeat on a buzzer beater at home last season. Illinois showed a different type of energy that it had not shown all season, taking a step in the right direction after two underwhelming ranked losses.
“What an incredible atmosphere,” Underwood said. “Hard fought college basketball game. I thought that we’ve grown in a week. I was very pleased to see our sustainability.”
Volunteers eager down low
Underwood preaches that his teams need to win the rebounding battle if they want to win the game. Unfortunately for the Illini, the Volunteers outmatched them in every which way in on the glass in the opening 20 minutes.
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Illinois played solid defense and forced tough shots early, but what killed that was not cleaning up those misses. Tennessee out rebounded Illinois 25-11 in the first half because of its activity on the offensive boards. The Volunteers had a staggering 13 offensive rebounds, while the Illini had a measly four.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a team annihilated like that on the glass,” Underwood said.
Ivišić keeps Illini from falling behind
Despite getting burned on the boards, an offensive clinic from junior center Tomislav Ivišić kept Illinois neck-and-neck with Tennessee throughout the first half. Against No. 5 UConn last weekend, Ivišic was relatively passive offensively in the first half, but he had his best half of the season in the second. Against Tennessee, that energy did not wait to come out.
“Tomi got going in some isolations,” Underwood said. “It was nice to get him some post-ups.”
Ivišic was aggressive from the jump, backing down defenders in the paint and showing how physical he can be with some of the best big men in the country. He made four of his five shot attempts down low, but that was not the only way he scored.
The 7-foot-1 big man also went 2-4 from downtown in the first half and got the Illini faithful in Nashville riled up with a big corner three. His own emotions were visibly high, and it looked like the peak-Ivišić of last season was making his return.
Defending Tennessee and matching physicality
Toughness was what Underwood wanted from his team following a passive performance against UConn, and he got exactly that after halftime, especially on defense. The Illini held the Volunteers to 32.3% shooting in the second half and caused them to miss their final six shots of the game. Add in the fact that Tennessee turned the ball over six times compared to Illinois’ two in the second half, and it was clear that Illinois’ defensive intensity made all the difference.
Only senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished the game in double figures, scoring 15 points. However, he shot an abysmal 6-20 from the field. Freshman forward Nate Ament, a projected top-5 pick in next year’s NBA Draft, also shot poorly, going 4-14. Those numbers are a testament to the team defense that Illinois showcased on Saturday night.
“The defensive side’s tremendous,” Underwood said. “(Tennessee) got one guy in double figures. That’s a pretty good sign…Anytime you do that against a Rick Barnes team you should feel pretty good, and I do.”
Outside of what was on the stat sheet, the Illini simply had a competitive edge on the defensive end, led by graduate student forward Ben Humrichous.
Humrichous had a team-high five second-half rebounds to go along with a block and a steal in the closing 20 minutes. What was not on the stat sheet was most impressive though. His commitment to using his improved physicality to do the dirty work and focusing on the intangibles of a strong defensive performance were impressive.
“Ben was absolutely phenomenal tonight on the defensive side,” Underwood said. “Ben didn’t shoot a shot. The job I thought defensively that he was able to do on Nate (Ament) and then just his blockouts, his positioning, his fight impacted (the game majorly).”
A key for the second half was to not only defend well, but to be physical on the glass to prevent Tennessee from getting second chances like they did in the first half so frequently. The rebounding margin was much tighter after halftime, with Tennessee only securing one more than Illinois, 21-20.
The fight on the offensive glass was much better, with the Illini grabbing seven to the Volunteers’ 10. Ivišić and freshman forward David Mirković each had two of those offensive boards.
“I just think it’s more effort, just everybody got to crash, everybody got to box (out) their own man; just be more physical,” Ivišić said.
Closing the rebounding gap helped Illinois pull ahead in a way that it could not in the first half.
Let them cook: Illini efficient on offense
A full team defensive effort was mirrored on the offensive end for Illinois in the second half. Almost every Illini had their moment to shine and contributed to an extremely efficient shooting performance. The Illini shot 50% from the field in the final 20 minutes and had nine assists on 14 made buckets. The ball was moving, the shots were good and they were falling.
Freshman guard Keaton Wagler was a sniper in the second half, going 3-7 from 3-point range.
“I just let the game come to me,” Wagler said. “I had a lot of open shots, and I had some late shot clock shots that came to me. I just knew that I had a mismatch on me that I could get to my move and get to the three. A lot of them felt really good, some didn’t fall, but some did.”
Wagler’s 11 second-half points led the Illini, but his composure is what was most impressive. No turnovers in the entire game show just how advanced he is for a freshman. High-IQ decision making and his smooth stroke are sending the young star to the top of opposing scouting reports.
Zvonimir Ivišić and Mirković had six and seven second-half points, respectively, with freshman going 3-4 from the field. Senior guard Kylan Boswell also added nine on 3-7 shooting, finishing the game with 15. The cherry on top for Illinois fans was a long awaited corner three from junior wing Jake Davis on his sole shot attempt of the game.
When the shot selection is good and the shots go in, Illinois’ offense is dangerous because of the weapons it has. Even though star junior wing Andrej Stojaković only finished the game with five points and sophomore guard Mihailo Petrović didn’t make a shot, others stepped up when their number was called. The depth that has been talked about with this team is clearly there, it’s just a matter of it being consistent night in and night out.
“Stojaković was averaging 16 coming in, didn’t get it tonight,” said Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. “Other guys step up because they’ve got a good team.”
Z’s threes close out win
Zvonimir got in foul trouble early in the first half, picking up three with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. That limited his playing time, but he showed up when Illinois needed him most.
With under six minutes to go, the Illini led by nine, but the Volunteers were not going away. A pair of threes from Tennessee were countered by back-to-back triples from Zvonimir, essentially denying the Volunteers a chance to get back in the game.
“He’s capable of making those shots anytime, he’s a great shooter,” Tomislav said. “I’m just glad when he makes them. Especially in those times when we’re playing better and (the) score is on our side.”
After Zvonimir’s big shots, the Illinois lead only got bigger, and Tennessee did not make a shot for the last four minutes of the contest. The Illini secured the Music City Madness-branded guitar and celebrated at center court, while the Volunteers walked back to the locker room, questioning what they need to do to turn their ship around.
“I still think our guys don’t understand exactly what goes into winning,” Barnes said after the team’s third straight loss.
