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Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini loss to Maryland part 2

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 07: Eric Ayala #5 of the Maryland Terrapins shoots a reverse layup against Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and draws a foul during the second half at State Farm Center on February 7, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 07: Eric Ayala #5 of the Maryland Terrapins shoots a reverse layup against Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and draws a foul during the second half at State Farm Center on February 7, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – FEBRUARY 07: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) looks across the court during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 7, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL – FEBRUARY 07: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) looks across the court during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 7, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. The offense is out of balance

One of the most frustrating things watching this Illinois basketball team is the fact we go on huge scoring droughts. These droughts happen just about every game because we get out of our regular offensive flow.

Illinois was cruising on Friday night. We had Maryland beat halfway through the first half. All we had to do was avoid a huge drought. Well, we went up 31-17 and then the drought hit. The Terrapins went on a 15-4 run and just like that, the Illini only had a three-point lead. This was the turning point in the game.

But what happened during this time?

I believe we went away from what we do best, which is play team ball. From the moment we took the 31-17 lead, which was with 9:29 to go in the first half, the Illini completely shut down.

During the span of time Illinois had the 14-point lead, we were distributing the ball and playing well as a team. Seven different Illini players were able to shoot the ball with six of those players scoring points. Not one player was shooting way more than another player. But as soon as we got that big lead, their play shifted.

In the span of time Illinois was able to get out to the big lead against Maryland, both Kipper Nichols and Andres Feliz took the most shots, which was only four. Ayo Dosunmu, Trent Frazier and Giorgi Bezhanishvili each had three shots. Da’Monte Williams shot the ball twice, and Alan Griffin had one shot. That is a well-balanced team.

But Illinois went away from that. After that point, the distribution was all out of balance. The rest of the game shot distribution looked like this; Ayo 14 shots, Feliz 10, Kofi Cockburn 5, Kipper 5, Griffin 4, Tevian Jones 1, Giorgi 1, Frazier 1 and Williams 0. There is something extremely wrong with those numbers.

As a team, Illinois was 11-of-20 shooting the ball to get to their 14-point lead. After that mark, the team hit a slump and was 11-of-41 shooting the rest of the game. So, we made just as many shots in the first roughly 10 minutes of the game as we did the other 30 minutes of the game.

The balance of the offense was off, and that is a huge reason why we fell to Maryland. I believe we are a better team, but I also believe we get in our own way at times. This was one of those times.

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