Winning on the road in the Big Ten is always a challenge, but the Illinois basketball team was up for it on Tuesday night.
The Illini played a pretty solid game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes threw Bruce Thornton at us, but we fended off his big 34-point night.
Illinois managed to shoot 41% from three-point range. Nearly everyone on the court was hitting shots consistently, and this team played pretty well on both ends of the court. It might be the most complete game I have seen Illinois play this season. The quality of play ended up leading the Illini to an 88-80 win over Ohio State.
Here are five crucial observations from the Illinois basketball win over Ohio State
1. Keaton Wagler is not fazed by anything
There have been some impressive freshmen come through Champaign, but man, Keaton Wagler might be the cream of the crop.
Wagler finished the Ohio State game with a team-high 23 points and five assists. He also had a couple of rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range.
It is incredible how cool, calm, and collected this freshman is on the court. Wagler isn’t fazed by anything, and his level head helped Illinois in this game in a big way.
Wagler continuously got to the free throw line for the Illini. Instead of feeling the pressure and missing numerous attempts, he ended up giving Illinois good points from the charity stripe, going 8-of-9 on the night.
There were multiple times that the shot clock was winding down, and Illinois needed an answer. Wagler goes into safety valve mode. He is able to create his own shot in those moments, and he can knock it down from anywhere on the court when the shot clock is about to go off. The kid has ice in his veins.
I think an underrated thing about Wagler not being fazed by anything is his backcourt presence. Ohio State put the full-court press on, and Wagler guided Illinois out of that pressure and across the timeline. His calm demeanor and basketball IQ tear up a full-court press.
Illinois has a special player on their hands with Wagler. He is way beyond his years, and his presence in the starting lineup helps elevate the program.
2. Illinois tried to go with a deep bench
Brad Underwood is very much a trust coach. If he trusts you, Underwood will throw you into the game or even the starting lineup. Just look at David Mirkovic and Keaton Wagler, both of whom are freshmen and starting.
In the same vein, if Underwood doesn’t trust you, he isn’t afraid to correct his mistake. He will pull you immediately, and we saw that on Tuesday night.
Illinois tried to go deep with the bench against Ohio State. The refs were blowing the whistle early and often against both teams, and Underwood went to his bench to try to get some rest for starters.
Well, a couple of the bench players looked pretty bad. Mihailo Petrovic came into the game and looked lost. He only played a minute on the court and had one turnover.
It is amazing that Petrovic still looks slow. He isn’t getting the speed of the game down, and it seems that everything is moving a little too fast for the once-coveted point guard.
Another terrible performance came from Jake Davis. He is sometimes a nice spark plug off the bench with this ability to hit three-pointers, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday.
Davis entered the game and had two points, one rebound, and three fouls in four minutes of action. He wasn’t too effective on the offensive end, and his presence on defense was nonexistent.
I was touting Illinois’ depth earlier this season, but that depth shrank quite a bit on Tuesday night. Thankfully, the starters are in great game shape and have the legs to go 30 or more minutes.
3. It was on a one-man show for Ohio State
Illinois has a history of running into a hot player who goes off against us. On Tuesday, it was no different. The Illini ran into a big-time player in Bruce Thornton.
Thornton started the game hot. By halftime, he had 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from three-point range.
Every time Thornton got the ball, he was making a bucket. He was unstoppable from anywhere on the court, and Illinois just had to take the punches. Even with his big first half, Illinois still managed to take the lead at half, 48-42.
I do believe this was likely a strategy of Illinois’ entering the game, too. While Underwood probably wasn’t expecting Thornton to go off like that in the first half, it seemed that the strategy was to shut everyone else down and not worry about double-teaming Thornton.
You have to give credit to players like Wagler, too. He frustrated John Mobley Jr. all night long. Mobley finished with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point range.
Thornton is a one-man show. He is a great player. Illinois let him do his thing, and Ohio State is going to struggle this season if he doesn’t get some consistent help.
4. The Illini needed that game out of Andrej Stojakovic
I was starting to get worried about Andrej Stojakovic. The big-time transfer portal addition has been in witness protection for the past couple of games, but finally, we found him.
Against UConn and Tennessee, Stojakovic was nowhere to be found. In those two games combined, he had eight points, two rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and two steals while playing 45 minutes. He also shot 3-of-12 from the field and 1-of-3 from three-point range.
Those are putrid numbers for a starter. Stojakovic is a much better player than what we have seen in the last couple of games, and he finally broke out against the Buckeyes.
Stojakovic finished the night with 17 points, four rebounds, and one assist. He shot 5-of-10 from the field and missed all three three-point attempts.
While I would like for a three-pointer to go in every once in a while, this was the game I needed to see from Stojakovic. He was aggressive toward the hoop. He can finish around the rim, and he proved that again and again by going 5-of-7 from two-point range.
Stojakovic’s aggression also got him to the free throw line, as he made all seven attempts. That is the most he has shot from the charity stripe this season.
Illinois needs all hands on deck to get this ship to Indianapolis in March and April. Stojakovic is going to be a key part in that effort. We need him to look like this the rest of the way out.
5. The Ivisic brothers had some big moments
While Zvonimir Ivisic had a good night, his brother Tomislav had one of his worst games as a member of the Illinois basketball program.
Tomislav finished the Ohio State game with seven points, two rebounds, two assists, and one block on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor and 1-of-6 from three-point range.
There were numerous times Ivisic would reach back and try to summon his three-pointer, but it just wasn’t there. I also expect way more than two rebounds in 27 minutes of action. That is crazy for a 7-foot-1 player.
Zvonimir, on the other hand, did have a good game. He came off the bench and gave Illinois 13 points, eight rebounds, and one block while shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
With that being said, both Ivisic brothers still had some big moments. Ohio State was narrowing the margin late in the game. With a minute left, they got it back to 79-76 and had some momentum. Tomislav proceeded to knock down his only three-pointer of the night with 46 seconds left in the game. This expanded the lead to six points.
On top of the big night off the bench, Zvonimir was in the game late with Ohio State trying to scramble back. Illinois was up six points, and the Buckeyes tried to extend the game by making a little bunny around the rim. Zvonimir swatted the ball for his only block of the game with 18 seconds left, which all but ended the contest.
Illinois has two players who are over 7-foot tall. The Ivisic brothers are such valuable pieces to this program, and having them come through in the clutch is always a fun sight.