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Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Minnesota

By Rees Woodcock

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 3: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on January 3, 2018 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 3: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on January 3, 2018 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JANUARY 3: Jordan Murphy
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JANUARY 3: Jordan Murphy /

4. Kipper has regressed this season

There were a few players I thought the Illini were going to depend on this season. Leron Black was one of those players. He hasn’t disappointed. But, Kipper Nichols was another one of those players and he has disappointed.

Nichols started the season off well but that was against inferior competition and those stats skew what is really happening on the basketball court. In the big games against serious DI competition, Nichols tends to lose his luster.

I realize that Nichols dealt with an injury in there as well. I take that into account, but he wasn’t playing well before that injury either. In the eight games against serious DI competition, Nichols is shooting 19-of-51 from the field, which is 37-percent. He doesn’t combat that bad shooting with free throws either. He has only shot seven free throws in those eight games.

Nichols has also struggled with rebounding as well. He has had double-digit rebounds twice this season but pretty much every other game has been rough. There are also times Nichols looks lost on the court too. The opposing teams run circles around him and he ends up fouling.

Last night, everything came to a head. Nichols finished with 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 from the three-point arc. This absolutely killed the Illini. I have been massively disappointed by Nichols this season and until he gets some things corrected, I don’t want to see much of him on the court.

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