In its Big Ten Conference home opener, No. 13 Illinois (8-3, 1-1) fell in a heartbreaker to No. 23 Nebraska (11-0, 2-0), 80-83, on a game-winning three-point shot from Nebraska senior guard Jamarques Lawrence. The Illini trailed the Cornhuskers for most of the contest, keeping the score close, but in the end, couldn’t finish the job. 

Although three Illini finished the game in double-figures, they didn’t get the defensive stops necessary to limit the Cornhuskers’ efficient offense. Nebraska junior guard Pryce Sandfort erupted for 32 points on 6-for-11 shooting from three. Three other Nebraska players also stepped up their games in the second half to score in double-figures and the Illinois defense couldn’t compete.

Hot start from Sandfort

Similarly to what Illinois faced against Ohio State earlier this week, Nebraska junior guard Pryce Sandfort was hot out of the gate on Saturday. Sandfort scored the first 15 points for the Cornhuskers, most of those coming from the three-point line. This allowed Nebraska to get in the lead quickly and remained there for most of the first half. 

By the end of the half, Sandfort scored 26 points on an efficient 10-for-13 from the field including 6-for-8 from three. The rest of Nebraska combined for only 11 points. None of the other Cornhuskers got themselves involved in their offense and Sandfort’s effort was tough for the Illini to find an answer to. 

“Our whole focus was to not let (Sandfort) get clean looks,” said senior guard Kylan Boswell. “I think in transition, we were very late with trying to find him specifically.”

Eventually though, Sandfort and the Cornhuskers started to cool off, struggling to score in the final minutes of the first half. Nebraska didn’t score in the last four minutes of the half which allowed Illinois to close the scoring gap and tie the game up 37-37 at halftime. 

Going into the second half, the Illini switched up their scheme on how to guard Sandfort and went to their go-to on-ball defender, senior guard Kylan Boswell. With the help of the rest of the Illini, Boswell held Sandfort to only three attempts from the 3-point line and only six second half points. The Cornhuskers didn’t falter though as their other key contributors came up big for them down the stretch. 

Illini play catch up

After Sandfort’s efficient performance in the matchup’s opening minutes, Illinois found itself behind and slowly chipped away at Nebraska’s lead throughout the half. In comparison to the Cornhuskers start, the Illini were cold from three, not hitting one until over halfway into the first half. Nebraska’s defense focused on keeping Illinois out of the paint and Illinois’ ball movement gave it open three-point looks. The Illini just couldn’t convert early on. 

However, offensive rebounding is what helped the Illini stay in striking range of the Cornhuskers when they weren’t shooting well from three. Illinois finished the first half with 10 offensive rebounds compared to Nebraska’s three. It also scored 14 points off those offensive rebounds. When the Illini aren’t effective from three, having effort to make these types of hustle plays makes a difference. 

Illinois eventually found its three-point stroke late into the first half though. Boswell and freshman guard Keaton Wagler each hit two threes in the half to help the Illini tie up the game at halftime. Junior forward Jake Davis even hit a corner three that made the Illini fans at State Farm Center get on their feet with excitement. Illinois ended the half on a 13-0 run, but seemed to revert back to its slow start coming out of the locker room. 

“There was an aggressiveness about us,” head coach Brad Underwood said about the end of the first half. “We actually got a couple of stops. We had them in foul trouble … You know, then I started the same five and we started awful in the second half just like we did in the first.”

Checked out defensively

The difference maker in the game throughout the final 20 minutes was Illinois’ lack of defensive effort. While the Cornhuskers didn’t go on many runs throughout the game, its offense remained steady and dependable to remain in the lead over the Illini. Nebraska shot a solid 51.6% from the field and 46.2% from three in the contest. 

The tough mentality on the defensive end that Illinois had against teams like Tennessee and Ohio State wasn’t there on Saturday night. The Illini front court of junior center Tomislav Ivišić, freshman forward David Mirković and junior center Zvonimir Ivišić combined for only 10 rebounds. The effort to go crash the glass wasn’t there and Nebraska grabbed five offensive rebounds in the second half because of it. 

“What I didn’t like was our approach to guarding them,” Underwood said. “It’s a mental tenacity. It’s a grit … You look at our frontline, there’s nothing. You got a horrendous stat line from everybody that played.”

As Sandfort slowed down offensively in the second half, Lawrence and senior forward Rienk Mast came alive for Nebraska. Alongside his game-winner, Lawrence finished with 14 points on 5-for-8 from the field. Mast also scored most of his points in the second half, ending the game with 17 and seven rebounds. The Illini weren’t dialed in defensively to limit these contributions and it impacted the end result. 

Senior guard Sam Hoiberg also helped propel the Cornhuskers to victory by doing all the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Hoiberg finished with seven points, five rebounds and six assists. His overall effort was another factor that separated Nebraska from Illinois. In the end, the Illini didn’t make those extra effort plays that Hoiberg did that were necessary to come out with the victory. 

“When you’re mentally sharp and you’re dialed in and you’re focused, you come up with those (loose balls) and today we didn’t,” Underwood said. 

Perimeter dominance 

While their defense kept them from taking the lead, the Illini continued to keep the score close with their perimeter play. Boswell, Wagler and junior wing Andrej Stojaković all finished in double-figures for Illinois and carried the offense in the second half. As Nebraska’s defensive scheme took away post ups, it was necessary for Boswell, Wagler and Stojaković to find an offensive rhythm. 

Boswell ended the contest with 20 points, shooting 3-for-6 from three and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line. The senior benefitted from Nebraska committing plenty of fouls as he took multiple trips to the charity stripe. Both Boswell and Wagler were also effective from three as Wagler shot 4-for-8 from three-point range. Wagler is continuing to solidify himself as one of the Illini’s top three-point shooters as he becomes more consistent. The freshman also dished out 10 assists. 

“It was just the flow of the offense,” Wagler said. “We knew that we could get good shots, especially since they help a lot and just being able to swing the ball, be willing passers and just look for the open shot.”

Since the start of the season, Underwood made it clear that he wanted Stojaković to improve as a rebounder. Stojaković didn’t disappoint in that category on Saturday as he secured his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Even with the loss, Stojaković finding consistency on offense once again is a positive for the Illini moving forward. Still, solid performances from Illinois’ top-scorers wasn’t enough to overcome its poor defensive showing. 

“(Andrej) was impacting the game at a high level because he was rebounding, because he was scoring,” Underwood said. “He’s one of the best players in our league and he’s starting to grow and do some things in all areas.

@evy_york2 

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