Illinois basketball was in a tight spot entering Saturday, and the program came up huge.
The Illini had been floundering as a program. We had dropped five out of the last eight games, and things were looking pretty bleak. To get back on track, a victory over Minnesota on Saturday was a must.
Funny enough, Minnesota came out of the gates and hit three three-pointers to go up 9-2 early on in the game. They started hot, but Illinois made sure to storm back and take the lead. Despite a good start, the Golden Gophers looked outmatched for much of the contest.
Illinois secured a double-digit lead in the first half. That 11-point margin extended to 27 points at one time in the game. Minnesota did make a little run at the end, but Illinois still ended up winning the game over the Golden Gophers, 95-74.
Here are five crucial observations from the Illinois basketball win over Minnesota
1. Will Riley came through in a big spot
Coming into the game on Saturday, I mentioned that Illinois basketball was in a must-win mode. We had to knock off Minnesota and then follow that win up with a victory over UCLA.
I also mentioned in an article that Illinois needed to lean on Will Riley. This kid has all of the talent in the world, and he is playing with incredible confidence. Let him eat and see where he takes us. On Saturday, Brad Underwood had the Will Riley Show continue on, and it was glorious to watch.
Riley finished the Minnesota game with 27 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and one block. He also shot 11-of-17 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range while making all three free throw attempts. Oh yeah, Riley didn’t have a single turnover either.
This was Riley’s best game as a member of the Illini in a spot where the program had to win the game. The 27 points Riley put up were his second-highest of the season, and he notched his highest total with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Over his last four games, Riley has scored at least 16 points. In that same span, he is averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and just 2.0 turnovers per game. Those are incredible numbers. I am glad Illinois is leaning on this kid to produce because we are going to need him the rest of the way out.
2. Brad Underwood made a smart adjustment
I feel like I have been screaming from the mountaintops about how bad Illinois is at shooting from three-point range. The numbers don’t lie, as the sample size for the season is big enough to show this team’s true colors.
Entering Saturday, the Illini were shooting 30.7% from three-point range as a team. That was bad enough to rank No. 312 out of 364 teams in DI. On top of that, Illinois had only shot 30% or better in two out of the past 10 contests.
In that 10-game stretch of horrible three-point shooting, Illinois was still taking 29.5 three-point attempts per game, which is mind-blowing. That is about par for the course too. This season, Illinois was averaging 30.9 three-point attempts per game, which ranks No. 4 in the country. So, we rank No. 4 in three-point attempts but No. 312 in three-point percentage. That is never good.
Against Minnesota, Brad Underwood clearly made an adjustment. It was one that I had hoped he would make for some time, and it finally happened. He started to play a style of Illinois basketball circa 2021. It was a big man-centric style that featured Kofi Cockburn. Using that style with this team is extremely smart.
On that 2020-21 team, Illinois only attempted 17.6 three-pointers per game. While the attempts were down, the quality of attempts was up. The Illini hit 37.2% from three-point range that season, which ranked No. 30 in the country.
That is the style that Illinois played with against Minnesota. We weren't jacking up three-pointers just to shoot them. The shots from deep were more concise and had a purpose. Most of the time, Illinois was focused on getting the ball to the hoop or shooting from the mid-range.
There is a reason Tomislav Ivisic had a big day with 18 points and 11 rebounds. It isn’t a shock that Illinois shot 65.9% from the floor. This team is much better when we are driving to the hoop and being aggressive. Underwood made the adjustment heading into the game, and it worked out beautifully.
3. Minnesota didn’t play bad basketball
After the first five minutes or so of the first half, there wasn’t a point in the game where I was worried about the Illinois basketball team. You could tell the game plan was smart and that Illinois was in control of this contest.
It was honestly a blowout of mass proportions. Illinois has had a few of these this season where you can tell the Illini are just more talented and deeper than the opponent. While the lead at halftime was only 11 points, Illinois had complete control of this contest. We showed that quickly in the second half.
At one point, Illinois increased the lead to 27 points. Minnesota went on a 6-0 run to end the game, but we still won by 21 points. The crazy part about this drubbing of the Golden Gophers is the fact that Minnesota didn’t play a bad game.
The Golden Gophers shot 40% from three-point range, which is pretty impressive. They were efficient in the game too. They had a 5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, as Minnesota finished with 15 assists and just three turnovers in the game.
If someone mentioned to me that a team had the numbers I laid out above, I would say that team is going to be competitive with their opponent. That didn’t end up being the case, though.
I think, at the end of the day, this was an example of Illinois just being a better team than Minnesota. We suffocated them with our talent.
Illinois had the big men to dominate the glass, as we had a 12-rebound advantage, 38-26. Minnesota didn’t have an answer for a 6-foot-8 perimeter player who can score at all levels in Will Riley. There was no guard play good enough to handle the reemergence of Kasparas Jakucionis either.
It is not like Minnesota came out of the gates and laid an egg. They played well enough to compete with a lot of teams in college basketball. The Golden Gophers just ended up playing a more talented Illinois squad that just happened to play an A-game on Saturday.
4. The All-Illness Team shouldn’t have seen action
If you are looking for critiques of Brad Underwood, you have come to the wrong place. I think he did a great job making the adjustments to how the offense ran on Saturday.
I honestly didn’t have an issue with the coaching staff and how they called the game. I didn’t have an issue with the players either. I thought we played some of the best basketball I have seen all season long.
The only issue I took in the game against Minnesota is a small one. It was the fact Illinois put the All-Illness Team out on the floor.
Tre White has been sick for a couple of games now, and entering the contest against Minnesota, it was reported that Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had been dealing with an illness as well. These two shouldn’t have seen the court on Saturday, but for some reason, the coaching staff decided to put them in the game.
Gibbs-Lawhorn played roughly four minutes and split time between the first and second half. He didn’t look into the game, and his numbers reflected that fact. He finished with zero points, one rebound, one assist, one turnover, and three fouls.
I laughed at White’s time on the court. While it made me sad because he clearly physically didn’t want to be out there, the time he spent on the court was quite amusing. White played roughly seven seconds in the game and had two fouls. It was the quickest appearance I have ever seen by a player.
So, while everything went well on Saturday, I didn’t see the point of trying to play Gibbs-Lawhorn and White. Honestly, they probably shouldn’t have even traveled with the team. Let them stay home and rest.
5. Jake Davis is the perfect role player for Illinois
The star power on the Illinois basketball team is phenomenal. We have so many weapons that will bite you if you let them run wild.
All of the stars are going to get the credit for the wins because they are putting up the most production on the court. But let’s not gloss over the fact that we have some good role players too. The main guy I am eyeing is Jake Davis.
I think Davis is the perfect role player for the Illinois basketball team. He could have gone anywhere or even stayed at Mercer and averaged 14 points per game. Instead, he took a chance and came to Illinois. He is coming off the bench and giving this program some crucial production too.
In the game against Minnesota, Davis was huge. Davis came off the bench and gave the Illini seven points, two rebounds, and one block in 15 minutes of action. Those numbers might not jump off the page, but there is a lot that goes into Davis’ game.
Davis doesn’t just stand around and let the game happen around him. He is always moving and is active, especially on the glass. Early in the game, Minnesota was hanging around. Davis hustled and got an offensive rebound and put it back up for two points. He then came back down the court and had a block on a Minnesota player.
In a span of roughly three minutes in the first half, Illinois went from being tied 16-16 with Minnesota to being up 22-18. In that stretch, Davis had four points, two rebounds, and a block.
Every game, you will see this kid hustling around the court and doing the little things for Illinois to win. Davis is exactly what this program needs. We have enough big dogs, we have enough Scooby-Doos. Illinois needs more Scrappy-Doos. Davis is a Scrappy-Doo.