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Illinois Basketball: 4 takeaways from the loss to Maryland

By Rees Woodcock

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament between the Santa Clara Broncos and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 77-68. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament between the Santa Clara Broncos and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 77-68. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, AZ – APRIL 03: The ball goes through the hoop during warm ups before the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 3, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

2. Halftime adjustments were amazing

I am going to bet, knowing the mentality of some Illini fans, there were fans who thought the game was over at halftime. I mean, why wouldn’t you? Maryland seemed to have been in control the entire game and Illinois was down 19 points at the break.

In true Lee Corso fashion, Underwood said not so fast my friends. Illinois stormed back in the second half. I had a goal for them to cut the lead down to under 10 points with 10 minutes remaining. They hit that goal right on the nose. They then continued to take control of the game and had the lead down the stretch.

The Illinois team that came out of the locker room was completely different than what I saw in the first half. They were more poised, they played better defense and they shot the ball so much better. They become more aggressive and drove the ball to the basket. They could break the zone defense using passes to the inside as well.

Everything went better in the second half and I attribute a lot of that to Underwood and his halftime adjustments. He set the Illini straight. He got Aaron Jordan the ball more and that proved to work out well. Trent Frazier played 28 minutes and he was a spark as a point guard as well.

There were so many things that changed for the Illini. The coaching staff did a great job at the break and I can’t wait to see how they build on this great second half performance.

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