Coming off its first loss in nearly two months, No. 8 Illinois (20-4, 11-2) is back at State Farm Center and searching for a bounce back win against Wisconsin (16-7, 8-4) on Tuesday night after falling to No. 10 Michigan State (20-4, 10-3) in an overtime thriller on Saturday. The Illini are facing some unfamiliar territory going into this matchup after picking up just their fourth loss of the season and only second in Big Ten play, but the Badgers are also coming into Champaign with a recent overtime loss under their belts to the Indiana Hoosiers (16-8, 7-6), 78-77.
“Can’t hang your head in this league,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “You get a very, very good Wisconsin team that is very explosive offensively and very similar to us in the way they play with five out, with bigs who can really shoot it and guards who get downhill. A team that’s given Michigan their only loss so far … We’re going to have to play awfully well to beat.”
New guards, same story
Even though the Badgers’ star guard from last season, John Tonje, graduated from the program and now plays for the Boston Celtics, they didn’t waste time finding another high-caliber player to fill his role. Wisconsin hit the transfer portal in the offseason and picked up senior guard Nick Boyd from San Diego State, who has now taken the Big Ten by storm during conference play.
Boyd is currently the Badgers’ leading scorer, averaging 20.0 points per game on 47.1% shooting from the field. Not to mention, Boyd is also ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten in points per game and field goals attempted per game this season so far. It’s no secret that Boyd knows how to score, and he doesn’t lack opportunities to do that as Wisconsin’s primary ball handler. While Boyd is helping the Badgers replace Tonje in a way this season, he is a different type of player to defend. Tonje scored in high volumes because of his physicality, but Boyd is instead keen to use his quickness to get to the rim.
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“They play very fast in transition,” Underwood said. “Boyd is a guy that will really push in transition and has great tempo and speed to his game.”
At 6-foot-3, Boyd doesn’t have a height advantage over most of his defenders, but that clearly hasn’t stopped him from remaining consistent in scoring. The senior has scored in double-figures in every game this season for the Badgers, most recently putting up 20 points on 7 for 19 shooting in their overtime loss to the Hoosiers. Despite the loss, Boyd’s consistency remains a huge part of Wisconsin’s success as of late and a key factor in its higher ranking in this competitive league.
Working to contain Boyd’s quickness and high-level scoring at the rim will provide a do-over for the Illini from this past weekend against the Spartans. Illinois struggled to defend Michigan State redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr., allowing him to erupt for a 26-point, 15-assist double-double and score 11 of Michigan State’s 14 points in overtime.
Although Fears is more dangerous as a distributor than Boyd, there are similarities between the two in how they use their speed to get to the lane and make it difficult for defenders to stay in front of them. Junior wing Andrej Stojaković was the primary defender on Fears on Saturday and will most likely get his chance at Boyd on Tuesday, but the Illini could also take this chance to put other defenders on Boyd at times to throw him off.
“I think Ben’s (Humrichous) become one of those guys,” Underwood said. “I think that one of the things that we felt like we probably should have done in the Michigan State game was throw Ben on Fears a little bit. It’s more about our team defense than it is one individual. Obviously, it takes five guys to do their job.”
Boyd won’t be the only guard that Illinois will have to look out for come Tuesday, though, and this guard isn’t an unfamiliar face. Junior guard John Blackwell is back for another season with the Badgers, and he hasn’t fallen off since averaging 15.8 points per game last year, yet he’s only improved. Blackwell sits right behind Boyd as Wisconsin’s second leading scorer at 18.5 points per game, as well as averaging 5.1 rebounds per game.
Similar to Boyd, Blackwell is a scorer who thrives at driving the basket and finishing through traffic. He is also a threat from the 3-point line as he’s shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc, so the Illini can’t sag off when defending him away from the basket. Alongside his high-volume scoring, Blackwell is active on the offensive glass, and Illinois’ guards will have to work to keep him from impacting the game in that area. Overall, Wisconsin’s backcourt duo plays similarly to Illinois in their ability to get downhill, play with pace and knock down threes, presenting a familiar offensive challenge on Tuesday.
Don’t overlook Winter
The Badgers’ punch on the perimeter is a tough duo to defend, but the Illini can’t overlook other key players on their roster who benefit their offense. Wisconsin’s perimeter play is similar to Illinois’, but so is the makeup of its frontcourt, and that starts with junior forward Nolan Winter. While Winter stands at 7 feet tall, he stretches the floor well, as Illinois’ twin junior centers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivišić do.
Winter has made huge strides between his sophomore and junior seasons at Wisconsin, now averaging 14.3 points per game on 58.5% shooting from the field after averaging 9.4 points per game last season. Winter is also a proven efficient scorer in the lane as he led the Big Ten in 2-point field-goal percentage last season at 71.5%. The Illini front court will also have to defend on the perimeter, though Winter isn’t afraid to let it fly from 3-point range and shoots it at a high percentage. The junior shoots the same percentage from three as Boyd at 34.2%, showing that he is just as dangerous from deep as his counterparts on the perimeter.
“Winter’s an elite fiveman,” Underwood said. “I think he’s one of the best bigs they’ve had. He can shoot it. He’s driving it. He’s a very, very good all–around player. So, you’ve got to understand that they’re all going to shoot (threes).”
As mentioned earlier, the Illini guards get their chance to redeem themselves from Saturday night by containing the Badgers’ perimeter stars, and their frontline has the same opportunity to improve differently. One of the key factors that led to Illinois’ loss to Michigan State was letting Michigan State have an edge over it on the offensive glass. An offensive rebound by the Spartans is even what led to the 3-pointer that gave them the lead in regulation before junior forward Jake Davis knocked free throws to send it to overtime. As Winter is No. 3 in the Big Ten currently in rebounds per game (8.8), Illinois will need to focus on crashing the boards more than it did in Saturday night’s loss to keep Winter from affecting the game on the glass.
Boswell update
It’s now mid-February, and the return of senior guard Kylan Boswell seems to be inching closer. There is still no timetable for his complete return to Illinois’ rotation, but he’s working to get to that point each day. Before the Illini faced the Spartans, Boswell got the stitches removed from his hand and is now increasing his activity. Per Underwood, Boswell was active in his individual workout after returning from East Lansing and participated in Monday’s team practice. However, Boswell won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup with Wisconsin.
“We’ll see, as he’s got an appointment later in the week, as to what his reactions are to practicing in terms of swelling, but I would think he’s progressing pretty nicely right now,” Underwood said.
Orange Krush to celebrate Davis
The Orange Krush is planning something special to celebrate Davis on Tuesday night by handing out Jake Davis hair wigs to the first 800 students who arrive at State Farm Center. The night has been highly anticipated with social media posts promoting the event that even include players such as Boswell and freshman forward David Mirković sporting the wigs, as well as Underwood in one of the videos.
“Unless you’re part of the team and unless you’re part of the Orange Krush, I don’t think you’re going to be able to comprehend what you’re going to see on Tuesday,” Stojaković said. “It’s going to be wild in there. Jake Davis is one of the most loved players on the team by our fans, so I’m excited to see it.”
Davis has been popular with Illinois basketball fans since he arrived in Champaign, not only for his blonde curls, but for his signature corner 3-point shot that fans have come to love. The array of wigs will be a sight to see against Wisconsin and a way for students to bring up the energetic home atmosphere with Davis’ signature look.
“I hope it’s not an omen for Head and Shoulders to be sold at the concession stands for his dander problem,” Underwood said. “It’s pretty cool. Jake’s proud of that hair, and you know, it works for him.”
@evy_york2
