No. 25 Illinois (14-4, 4-3) fell 85-69 in disappointing fashion to No. 8 Michigan (15-2, 6-1) Thursday. Mistakes in shooting, holes in the defense and a lack of an offensive presence caused the Illini to fall short against the Wolverines.
“We didn’t have it tonight,” head coach Shauna Green said. “We had two people that showed up to play offensive and really no one else.”
This marks the Illini’s third straight loss against a ranked opponent and their third loss this month. Going into the matchup, the Illini knew that the Wolverines would prove a challenge. However, Illinois did not play like a ranked program fighting for a conference win.
“They’re really, really good,” Green said. “This (is) the best team we’ve played all year by far.”
With so many factors that led to the disappointing result, here are four key areas that caused the Illini trouble.
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Dolan’s absence created gaps in offense, defense
One of the biggest hits to the Illini against Michigan was redshirt sophomore guard Gretchen Dolan’s absence. Dolan is a pivotal part of Illinois’ success, and not having her on the court created gaps both offensively and defensively.
In place of Dolan, Green relied on her sixth woman to fill the gap, junior guard Maddie Webber. Despite starting, Webber didn’t give the Illini her normal spark off the bench. Instead, Webber fell short and had one of her worst games this season, scoring only 3 points.
Dolan’s absence meant the Illini’s other guards all struggled when it came to having a clean defense. This then caused Illinois to be in severe foul trouble. Webber, junior guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger and sophomore guard Aaliyah Guyton all found themselves with four fouls. Freshman guard Destiny Jackson followed closely behind with three.
The messy defense allowed the Illini to send the Wolverines to the free-throw line 18 times. Luckily for the Illini, the Wolverines only made 13 of those shots.
Michigan valued possessions more
“They play really, really hard for every possession,” Green said of the Wolverines. “That’s what’s most impressive about them. I love how they play because they play the game the right way.”
Michigan clearly valued each possession it came across. The Wolverines really honed in on their offensive rebounds, especially. Michigan had 15 offensive rebounds and was able to get an extra 23 second-chance points off those rebounds. For the Wolverines, those second-chance points made up 27.06% of their total points for the night.
Another way Michigan showed off its offensive talent was with its points in the paint. The Wolverines outscored the Illini overall, but especially in the paint. Michigan had 46 points in the paint, whereas Illinois only had 28.
Over half of the Wolverines’ points came from the paint, highlighting how smart they were with their shot selection Thursday night.
Letting Michigan take advantage of turnovers
“If you give them an inch, they’re going to make you pay with it,” Green said.
The Illini did, in fact, pay for their mistakes, especially with turnovers. Green and the rest of the Illini knew that the Wolverines would score points off turnovers forced. Somehow, that caused Illinois to be messier when it came to preventing turnovers. Michigan got 21 points off turnovers, which made up 24.71% of its total points.
This is also the second game in a row where the Illini let their opponents get the better of them with turnovers. Illinois’ sloppy performances allow opponents to take advantage with turnovers, and it only hurts the team in the end. That is exactly what Michigan did against Illinois.
Lack of accurate shots, inconsistent shooting
“You can’t get down that much in the first quarter and expect to come back against an elite team like this,” Green said.
In the first quarter, Illinois went 5 for 16 with field goal attempts, and allowed Michigan to go 11 for 21.
Shooting and a lack of offense weren’t just a problem in the first quarter; it was evident for the full 40 minutes. Inconsistent shooting was a problem for rookies and veterans alike. Webber went 1 for 9 and only scored 3 points. Her lackluster performance came just days after a career-best showing against Penn State.
Jackson was another Illini who struggled. Jackson went 1 for 8 and also only scored 3 points. She made up nearly half of Illinois’ total turnovers with seven out of 15. Despite her messy performance, Jackson still played 36 minutes due to Dolan’s absence.
Another freshman who struggled was forward Cearah Parchment. Parchment is typically one of the Illini’s most reliable players when it comes to points. However, Thursday night, she went 2 for 4 on her field goals. Parchment was having an off-day when it came to attempting shots. However, her silver lining is that she still helped Illinois with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Even though Brown-Hagger had 16 points, she went 6 for 17 on her shots. The majority of her points came from three-point shots, but she struggled in the paint. Brown-Hagger’s performance brings up a “what if” scenario of what if she made more of her shots. That could have helped the Illini tremendously in the paint and gotten them a potential lead or win.
Everyone on the court for the Illini struggled in one way or another, and the group ended up having an off showing overall that cost them yet another conference game. Illinois’ loss will also most likely cost it its place in the AP top 25.
Illinois is back at State Farm Center Sunday to take on Northwestern (8-10, 2-5). Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CDT.
@lauram0131
