No. 4 Illinois (22-7, 15-5) kicks off its Big Ten tournament journey on Friday at 1:30 p.m. CDT as it faces off with No. 5 Wisconsin (23-9, 14-6) for a trip to the tournament semifinals. Not only are the Illini playing to stay alive in the conference tournament, but they are also seeking revenge against the Badgers. In Illinois’ first matchup with Wisconsin, it lost by 2 points in overtime at home with the entire Orange Krush in wigs inspired by junior forward Jake Davis. Now in March, the stakes are higher, and it’s time for the Illini to step up to the plate.
“We talked all year about the margins, and how close winning and losing is when you got elite teams going at it,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “We’ve got to have a carefree mindset and know that we’re a good basketball team, but we want to be the toughest, hardest-playing team out there every night.”
Team defense against high-scoring guards
As of late, Illinois has continued to pick up its overall energy on the defensive end, holding three of its last six opponents to under 65 points. Yet, a consistent Achilles’ heel for the Illini throughout the season has been their perimeter defense, particularly against quick, shifty guards.
Of the Illini’s five Big Ten losses this season, a key catalyst for three of them was the opponents’ impressive guard play, which the Illini defense allowed. Scouting report mistakes against then-No. 23 Nebraska (26-5, 15-5) led to six threes from junior guard Pryce Sandfort and, ultimately, to Illinois dropping its first Big Ten game. That loss sparked a 12-game winning streak, which then-No. 10 Michigan State (25-6, 15-5) broke behind a 26-point, 15-assist double-double from redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
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However, the clearest picture of the Illini’s defensive deficiency was in their home overtime loss to the Badgers. In a game where Illinois was without its top two perimeter defenders, senior guard Kylan Boswell and junior wing Andrej Stojaković, it couldn’t slow down the driving force of Wisconsin’s offense, which is its guard play. Senior guard Nick Boyd and junior guard John Blackwell combined for 49 points and totaled 41 of the Badgers’ 76 field-goal attempts against the Illini’s bigger lineup.
Illinois will get a chance to redeem itself and to win a revenge game against Wisconsin on Friday, this time with a complete rotation. Boyd and Blackwell haven’t slowed down in terms of scoring since facing the Illini the first time around, as they combined for 48 points in the Badgers’ most recent win over the No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers. The difference between Illinois and Wisconsin’s first matchup and the upcoming one, though, is that Boyd and Blackwell will have to deal with Boswell.
As a recent Big Ten All-Defensive team selection, Boswell is a difference maker on that end of the floor. His ability to be physical with guards on the perimeter and match opponents’ quickness to stay in front of them, plus contest shots, is what Illinois was missing against Wisconsin the first time.
Boyd and Blackwell weren’t challenged by the Illini defense, leading to their efficiency. Boswell is no stranger to slowing down these high-scoring guards, as he held Iowa (21-12, 10-10) senior guard Bennett Stirz to 12 points on an inefficient 5 for 17 from the field.
“I’ve said it, (Boswell’s) one of the more versatile defenders,” Underwood said. “He’s a problem solver, and that’s quite an honor in a league that’s known with a lot of defensive-minded coaches.”
While Boswell will give the Wisconsin guards a new challenge to go up against, he can’t slow them down alone. The Illini’s defensive focus as a team needs to be on taking Boyd and Blackwell out of the Badgers’ offense as much as possible and forcing others to contribute. Boswell is a solid one-on-one defender, but that isn’t how high-scoring guards are limited. It’s when everyone plays their role.
“We’ve been very solid in terms of the defensive end,” Underwood said. “We’re forcing guys into the shots we want, and I’m really excited for what postseason looks like.”
Increased offensive production from Tomislav
The offensive end of the floor hasn’t been a strong suit for junior center Tomislav Ivišić over the Illini’s last three games. Ivišići’s averaging just 4.3 points per game since playing No. 3 Michigan (29-2, 19-1) on Feb. 27 and has only knocked down one three during that time as well. His field goal percentage has also struggled, as he shot 30% against Michigan, 16.7% in the win over Oregon (12-20, 5-15) and most recently, 33.3% in the regular season finale at Maryland (12-21, 4-16).
Even at 7-foot-1, Ivišić likes to live at the 3-point line on the offensive end. Of his last 19 field goal attempts, 12 of those have been threes, which he isn’t hitting. The fact that Ivišić is going through a shooting slump right now isn’t helping his offensive production increase, especially if he doesn’t try to be more aggressive as a scorer in the paint.
The junior has proven in the past that he is just as effective at the rim as he is outside the 3-point line. Despite the loss to UCLA (22-10, 13-7) in late February, Ivišić scored 16 points on 5 for 9 from the field. This was his most efficient performance over the last month. While there is no reason that Ivišić needs to stop attempting threes, he needs to rediscover his ability to be effective in the post if he wants to be a more versatile scoring threat. Outside of scoring, Ivišić’s offensive rebounding and passing have stayed at a high level over the last three games, though, which is a plus.
The expected rematch against Wisconsin for Ivišić was going to be with junior forward Nolan Winter. However, that might not be the case. In Wisconsin’s win over Maryland, Winter injured his left ankle and didn’t play in Wisconsin’s final regular-season win over Purdue. That didn’t keep the Badgers from stealing the upset win, but without Winter, they lost a big piece of their frontcourt ahead of facing the tallest team in the country in the Illini.
Winter sat out Wisconsin’s first-round game against No. 12 Washington (16-17, 7-13) on Thursday and is still listed as day-to-day. If he doesn’t play in the quarterfinals against the Illini, it will be a great opportunity for Ivišić to work to dominate the paint as well as the 3-point line with his size advantage. Ivišić having a game to build confidence will be important before a possible rematch with No. 1 Michigan and its elite frontcourt that dominated Illinois two weeks ago.
One player can’t do it all
Even if the 3-point shooting wasn’t on point against Maryland on Sunday, Illinois’ biggest strength is still its offense and the efficiency of that offense. In terms of having offensive threats in the paint, outside the 3-point line and in transition, the Illini check all the boxes. When the ball moves well, and everyone gets involved in the offense, that’s when Illinois plays in a rhythm offensively and dominates opponents. A prime example of this was against the USC (18-14, 7-13) Trojans, where seven different Illini scored in double-figures, which led to the Illini winning by 36.
When there isn’t a focus on getting everyone involved in the offense, and shot selection is poor, the Illini don’t dominate opponents in the same way. Although freshman guard Keaton Wagler had 34 points on 12 for 23 shooting during the first go-around with Wisconsin, it still wasn’t enough to close out a victory by himself in the second half. Now that the complete roster is healthy again for round two, the Illini need to take advantage of that and use all the weapons in their arsenal that they didn’t have last time.
“We know how good each other are,” Wagler said. “We love playing with each other, and we love seeing each other be successful.”
Throughout the season, each Illini has had their moment to step up and be the star of the offense. Everyone has proven that they can fill that role when it’s needed. Now that tournament time is here, and a few key Illini are experiencing their first taste of the Big Ten tournament, playing together and leaning on each other to step up is more important than ever.
@evy_york2
