Illinois basketball show its flaws in loss against Ohio State

The Illini are who we thought they were.

Illinois entered this season with modest expectations after the departures of Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson. John Groce was left with a roster full of new, unproven players. After a 62-55 loss to No. 17 Ohio State on Thursday, Illinois has proven that its preseason expectations were well warranted.

The loss of Paul meant someone else needed to step up on this team. Illinois is still looking for that player, anyone that is capable of consistently scoring down the stretch of close games. Illinois was once again searching for that player against Ohio State, but he was never found.

Rayvonte Rice appeared to be “the man” of this team early in the season, but his production has fallen off a cliff since his stellar start. Rice just didn’t have it against an aggressive Buckeyes defense, going scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting from the floor to go along with three turnovers.

Before the season, there were question marks about Rice’s ability to succeed in a better conference, and that criticism has been fair thus far. Rice has shot 33.3 percent from the field or less in his last five games after shooting over that mark in his previous 15 contests. The scouting report’s out on Rice. Defenders are sagging off him, making it more difficult for the junior transfer to create any space. He doesn’t have the speed to blow past defenders playing off him, so instead he settles for the long ball. The rest of the offense has sunk with him.

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A successful offense cannot be sustained without a go-to player. Illinois continues to drain the 35-second shot clock with nowhere to go, having to launch a low-percentage shot at the end of the possession. It’s as if the team’s playing hot potato, looking for anyone that is willing to take the shot. This team is lost.

Heading into this season Illinois’ roster appeared to lack shooters. Groce denied it, saying his team was shooting even better at practice early in the season than last year’s squad. I just don’t see it. The only reliable perimeter threat on this team is Jon Ekey, and even he was shooting only 36 percent from behind the 3-point line heading into this game. Everyone else is hit-or-miss. Ohio State salivated at the opportunity to play such a predictable offense. The Buckeyes didn’t disappoint.

Illinois shot 5-for-18 from the 3-point line against Ohio State when even one more make could’ve swung this game. Ohio State instead made the timely shots, hitting three of its eight 3-point attempts in the final eight minutes of the game. Lenzelle Smith’s fourth 3-pointer of the game to put the Buckeyes ahead 58-50 with 1:21 left put a fork in this one.

Illinois is so painful to watch because the potential to win is there. Ohio State had to scratch and claw its way to a victory on Thursday. Illinois was right there down by just two points with 2:32 left against the 17th best team in the country. Even with its best player being shut out while the team struggled to even get the ball past half-court (I’m talking to you, Malcolm Hill), Illinois still gave Ohio State a fight it nearly lost.

The holdovers from last year stepped up against Ohio State. Joseph Bertrand led all scorers with 19 points while Nnanna Egwu broke out of his slump with 10 points and nine rebounds. Tracy Abrams struggled for much of the night but scored some timely buckets down the stretch when his teammates disappeared. Illinois just can’t put it all together at the same time.

The Illini have now lost five consecutive games with three equally as tough games coming up. I wish I could say Illinois will turn this around and silence their critics, but I can’t. Illinois just isn’t ready yet.

Michael is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @The_MDubb.