Illinois basketball ran into a Minnesota team that played the best they could on Saturday.
The Golden Gophers gave the Illini their A-game. They shot above their season averages, and they had a ton of energy. Illinois still managed to fend them off, though.
It was a slow start for Illinois. Brad Underwood had to light a fire underneath most of the players, and some of them responded. The second half is where we made our mark, beating Minnesota by 10 points in the final 20 minutes of action. This led to an Illinois win, 77-67.
Here are five huge observations from the Illinois basketball win over Minnesota
1. What an asset Zvonimir Ivisic is off the bench
I am not sure if Illinois fans will ever get to see it again. We start a 7-foot-1 big man who can play in the post or shoot from three-point range. Illinois can then sub in a 7-foot-2 big man to either replace him or go alongside him, who can do the same things on the court.
The luxury of having Zvonimir Ivisic is probably taken for granted at times. He is such an asset to this program, and he gives Illinois a unique mismatch with opponents at all times.
Illinois needed Ivisic in a big way against Minnesota, and he delivered to the tune of a team-high 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 2-of-5 from three-point range. He also knocked down all six of his free throw attempts.
In addition to the points, Ivisic also had nine rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. That is a great game for someone who played 35 minutes, but what is more mind-blowing is the fact that Ivisic only played 18 minutes against the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota couldn’t handle his size. They couldn’t figure out how to guard Ivisic on the perimeter, and then had to worry about him just reaching his arms over players to get rebounds without really touching them. This kid was a nightmare to the Golden Gophers, and he is such a great asset to the Illinois basketball program.
2. Minnesota struggled with Illinois’ size
This section kind of goes hand-in-hand with the previous section. Minnesota couldn’t deal with Illinois’ size, and it was evident all game long.
Let’s start with the Ivisic brothers. I already touched on Zvonimir’s big game, leading Illinois in scoring and rebounding. His brother, Tomislav, also had a good game.
Ivisic logged 26 minutes for Illinois, giving the program 10 points, seven rebounds, and one assist. He was also 2-of-4 from three-point range. Offensively, Minnesota had no one to defend either Ivisic brother. They would be in the post, and when they missed a bunny, they would still be able to get the offensive rebound and put it back up because of their size.
Minnesota also struggled with Keaton Wagler and his 6-foot-6 size at guard. He was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted around the court.
Wagler is already great at creating shots, but when he has someone who is multiple inches shorter guarding him, it makes it that much easier to elevate over the defender when taking shots. It is why Wagler was 4-of-8 from three-point range.
I expected a bigger blowout because Illinois had such a size advantage. This was evident coming into the contest, and it rang true by the end of the game.
3. Mihailo Petrovic earned more playing time
Things weren’t going well for Illinois for much of the first half. It looked like we had a fog in our play. Maybe Jack, Jim, and Jose were in town, and some of the team needed to reminisce about the old times.
In the first 16 minutes, the Illini looked out of it. But around the five-minute mark in the first half, Illinois got the most surprising jolt of energy.
Brad Underwood was sick of what he was seeing on the court, and he put in Mihailo Petrovic. This was a whoa moment for me. Petrovic has been MIA for such a long time, and now he is in the game when Illinois is struggling with Minnesota.
Petrovic didn’t see a single minute in the Northwestern and Iowa games. He had only played a total of seven minutes in the month of January.
But on Saturday, Petrovic was summoned, and let me tell you, he was exactly what Illinois needed. Petrovic came into the game and sparked the Illini. He gave us seven minutes and produced four points and three rebounds.
Petrovic was moving all around the court. He was playing freely, and it was refreshing to see. His energy helped Illinois get out of a funk and get even with Minnesota heading into halftime. Without him, momentum might have been on the Golden Gopher’s side to finish the first half, and who knows what the next 20 minutes would hold. Instead, Petrovic came through big for Illinois.
4. That was not a productive Kylan Boswell
Illinois had a couple of players who couldn’t manage to snap out of the funk on Saturday afternoon. One of those players was Kylan Boswell.
I have mentioned it before, but there are some games when Illinois gets the aggressive Boswell, and that is the best Boswell. We didn’t get that against Minnesota, though. He was mentally checked out, and it hurt the Illini.
Boswell was in the game late in the first half. Illinois was down 32-26, and Underwood pulled him and put in Petrovic. This was a surprising move at the time, but Illinois needed it. We finished on an 8-2 run in, roughly, the final five minutes of the first half to tie the game up at halftime. This was without Boswell.
The Illini weren’t getting the other things from Boswell either. If his shooting isn’t on, sometimes he can give us other areas of production. That didn’t happen. He finished with nine points, three rebounds, three assists, two turnovers, and one steal. He was 2-of-6 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range.
Minnesota is a smaller team. There is zero reason Boswell should only be taking two two-point attempts. He was not engaged in his game in the least bit, and the fact that Illinois can get a double-digit win in the Big Ten with their starting point guard checked out shows you how good this team really is.
5. I am happy with the way Illinois crashed the glass
With the big size advantage that was mentioned throughout this article, Illinois should have won the rebounding battle in a big way.
That is exactly what happened. We held our own when it came to pulling down rebounds, winning the rebounding battle over Minnesota, 42-31.
While that is great, it isn’t what made me happiest when it came to Illinois crashing the glass. It was the fact that we dominated the offensive rebounding department.
Illinois ended the game with 17 offensive rebounds. This was the third-most we have had this season, only behind the obviously outmatched teams of Jackson State and Colgate.
The size advantage really came into play when it came to the offensive rebounds. The Ivisic brothers each had four offensive rebounds. David Mirkovic had three offensive rebounds. And while I didn’t like how he played the entire game, Boswell also had two offensive rebounds.
Illinois’ bench was hustling all game long, too. As a unit, they accounted for six out of the 17 offensive rebounds.
Logging 17 offensive rebounds means Illinois was working hard on the glass. When the shots aren’t always falling, it is important to get second-chance points. I am pleased with the hustle from this group.