Illinois basketball needed to rebound from a tough loss, but we couldn’t do that against Wisconsin.
The Illini had a chance to put the Badgers away in the second half. We got the lead up to 12 points at one time, but Wisconsin just kept fighting, and Illinois shrank in the big moment.
This was a must-win for Illinois. We couldn’t afford to lose back-to-back games for the first time this season, especially to an unranked team just coming off a loss to Indiana. Illinois laid an egg, though, which led to the 92-90 loss to Wisconsin in overtime. This was the worst loss of the season thus far.
Here are five disappointing observations from the Illinois basketball loss to Wisconsin
1. Keaton Wagler is so special
Here we are again. Even after a loss, you can’t put much blame, if any, on Keaton Wagler. He was special throughout, and the only reason Illinois was in the game.
Wagler finished the Wisconsin contest playing 44 minutes and logging 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range. He also had seven assists to help get his teammates involved.
I was worried that Wagler might be rattled by his random bad performance against Michigan State, but he came out against the Badgers and looked like his old self. He wasn’t being as recklessly aggressive with the basketball when going to the rim. This control helped him dish it off when the double team around the hoop would come.
What I loved most was that Wagler would create his own shot more in this game than against the Spartans. No defender can handle him on the perimeter, and he let Wisconsin know his talent with the ability to shake off a defender or just shoot from near-logo range.
It is sad that Illinois lost, but the ability of Wagler to nearly lift us to a victory is special. I really wish that last three-pointer had gone in to win the game.
2. Illinois can get lazy due to Keaton Wagler’s talent
I touched on Wagler being special in the first section. While that is true, and he was dominant against Wisconsin, it is also a curse for his teammates.
When Wagler is doing his thing and getting his own, I have noticed that his teammates start to get progressively lazier. I think, at the end of the day, this is what lost Illinois the game.
The Illini went on a pretty big drought the final five minutes or so in the game and to start overtime. Wagler would get the ball at the top of the key, and then two Illinois players would go to the wing and the other two would go to the corners.
From that point, you would maybe get a lazy screen, but no one was rolling or really moving. It was a terribly stagnant offense that put the brakes on Illinois scoring.
No matter what Wagler is doing, the other four Illini can’t get stagnant. We need to keep screening and rolling to the hoop. The pick-and-roll with someone like Tomislav Ivisic that would get him in the paint was nearly unstoppable. Hopefully, we keep moving in the future and don’t just lean on Wagler.
3. The Illini need to get healthy
I would imagine a part of Illinois not moving as much is that everyone on the court was tired. That is what happens when a couple of starters are injured, and we only have one player coming off the bench.
Entering the game on Tuesday night, the Illini already had Kylan Boswell out with an injury. This has been the case for about two weeks. Illinois has managed to adapt to that injury, and we were playing well.
The game started, and everyone was wondering why Andrej Stojakovic wasn’t on the floor. Early in the game, Brandon Lee checked in, and then it was clear that Stojakovic wasn’t going to be playing at all.
Apparently, he sprained his ankle against Michigan State, and that flared up in the pregame warmups. So, Illinois had two starters out with an injury.
This would have been a different game if Illinois had their starters back. It is not the reason they lost, though. Don’t get me wrong. We had this game in the bag and got lazy. But this program needs to get healthy. It is crazy that we are competing at a high level without two starters. I don’t think anyone in the country can say the same.
4. Missing free throws down the stretch was a killer
Illinois had a few key things go wrong in the game that ended up killing us against the Badgers. I already mentioned the fact that we stopped moving and the offense got stagnant.
The other huge thing that could have put the Illini over the top is free throw shooting. This is one of the best free throw shooting teams Illinois has ever had.
Coming into the game on Tuesday night, Illinois was shooting 79.1% from the charity stripe, which ranked No. 6 in the country. That is not a typo. We are a top 10 free throw shooting team.
We weren’t against Wisconsin, though. Illinois had a chance to knock off the Badgers, but we couldn’t convert at the free throw line. The Illini were 11-19, 58%, from the charity stripe against Wisconsin.
Late in the game, David Mirkovic missed three straight free throws off the back iron and finished 3-of-6 on the night. These were brutal misses, as Illinois could have controlled the game if they went in.
Wagler wasn’t much better. He had multiple trips to the free throw line when he made one and missed one. He finished the game going 5-of-8 from the charity stripe.
And then you have Tomislav Ivisic. He is a great three-point shooter, but he was skunked at the free throw line, going 0-of-2 in the game.
If Illinois makes free throws, we come away with the win. That is simple. Make the uncontested shots from the charity stripe.
5. Illinois can’t allow that many offensive rebounds
It was an embarrassing performance in the rebounding department against Michigan State. Illinois should never lose a rebounding battle.
Against Wisconsin, at least we won the overall rebounding battle 38-35. This was a positive note. What isn’t a positive note is the fact that the Badgers dominated the Illini on the offensive glass.
Illinois only managed to pull down eight offensive rebounds. Nearly half of those came from Zvonimir Ivisic off the bench. We weren’t crashing the offensive glass like we needed to do.
On the other side of the court, Wisconsin was pulling down second-chance opportunities all night long. They had a total of 14 offensive rebounds.
Giving the Badgers 14 extra chances at points is not a good recipe for a victory. They were already hitting from three-point range early and often, but to allow them to have 14 extra chances at points is asking for a loss.
Illinois is a really good team with a great player, but we did enough on Tuesday night to not warrant a win. Wisconsin played a good game, but the Illini lost this game more than the Badgers won. We have to correct the mistakes and move on.