Another game is in the books, and you can mark down another win for the Illinois basketball program.
This wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game, as the Illini weren’t able to put Washington away until the final few minutes. The Huskies hung around all game long, and this had me a bit worried at times.
Thankfully, Illinois had the services of a couple of the best freshmen I have seen for this program in my lifetime. Relying on freshmen to lead the team is concerning, but they continue to light the world on fire.
Washington got a taste of the freshman duo on Thursday night, and there was nothing they could do about it. Those freshmen were a great one-two punch in what ended up being a 75-66 win over the Huskies.
Here are five interesting observations from the Illinois basketball win over Washington
1. Illinois got consistency from David Mirkovic
It is pretty wild to think that Illinois has rattled off 10 straight wins, and this team is being led by freshmen.
Even though the Illini were able to beat Purdue, the fact is that Keaton Wagler can’t do this all by himself. He needs help. Wagler got that help on Thursday night against Washington in the form of David Mirkovic.
Mirkovic was one of the few consistent players who wasn’t named Wagler. He finished the game with 19 points, six rebounds, and one assist on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from three-point range.
I always love the grit of Mirkovic, as he is one of those guys who does a little bit of everything to help the team. But the Illini needed his scoring in a big way against the Huskies. The three upperclassmen who surrounded the freshmen in the starting lineup only produced 18 points, so Mirkovic’s consistency was greatly appreciated.
2. Andrej Stojakvoic tries to force the situation
Man, it is a tough watch when Andrej Stojakovic is not playing well. It has now happened in back-to-back games, and I kind of feel bad for him because it seems like he is one of those players from Space Jam when they had the talent zapped out of them.
Stojakovic is a good player, but when he isn’t on from the jump, that snowball continues to roll and turns into a boulder by game’s end. He finished the Washington contest with eight points and three rebounds on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and missed both three-pointers.
Illinois can’t have Stojakovic playing this type of game in 33 minutes of action moving forward. It will eventually bite us in the butt.
The bad part is that Stojakovic forces the situation. He doesn’t work with the flow of the offense enough to get easy buckets. The series usually has him getting the ball on the wing and then driving baseline and throwing up a miracle short shot that goes off the rim.
It is frustrating at times, but if Stojakovic just sat back and let Wagler get the offense going, then he would naturally get double-digit points each game. Stop forcing and let the game come naturally.
3. Ironically, Keaton Wagler is a man amongst boys
I mean, it is every single game that Wagler impresses me. There isn’t one where I am like, yeah, this kid looks like a freshman. Even when Wagler doesn’t have it going offensively, he still affects the game in a positive way.
On Thursday night, Wagler was going on both ends of the court. Ironically, the kid is only 18 years old, and he is a man amongst boys out there. His ability and IQ for the game of basketball are light-years ahead of anyone else on the court at all times.
Wagler finished the Washington game with 22 points, eight assists, and five rebounds while going 7-of-13 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
Offensively, he is a maestro. He also flexed his defensive muscles against the Huskies. He took a big charge early on in the game, and he was able to keep their guards in check.
Sometimes you run into shooting stars in the college game. Shooting stars don’t last long, though. Enjoy this kid while he is here.
4. The Illini needed Ben Humrichous in a big way
Finally, Illinois had an upperclassman do something against Washington. It was a brutal night for the players who have multiple years of experience, but Ben Humrichous’ contributions off the bench were crucial.
Humrichous has been solid the past few games. He was a combined 4-of-8 from three-point range in the past two contests and dropped six points in each of those games. That is the type of production I expect out of a solid role player off the bench.
Illinois needed more out of Humrichous on Thursday night if we wanted to avoid the upset, and the former NAIA star delivered.
Humrichous was third on the Illini in scoring, as he finished with 14 points and three rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, all of which were three-pointers.
Some of the big moments for Humrichous came in the second half, too. Washington was hanging around, and he came through in a big way.
Illinois was only up five points early in the second half, and Humrichous hit a three-pointer to expand the lead to eight points. It was still a single-digit deficit with less than five minutes left in the game. Humrichous hit another big three-pointer to expand the lead to double-digits.
This was a great night for Humrichous. His production off the bench was one of the reasons Illinois secured their 10th win in a row.
5. Illinois kind of played with our food
I am not throwing away the fact that this is win No. 10 in a row for Illinois. That is an impressive feat.
It is also not going over my head that every team in the country is going to give the Illini their best shot. We are a top 10 program in the country, so every game is the opposing team’s national championship at this point.
With that being said, this win was uninspiring. Illinois is a much better team than Washington, and the game was in Champaign.
To only win by nine points and have this game be single-digits for much of the contest was a bit disappointing. It had nothing to do with the freshmen, either. This close game all rests on the shoulders of the experienced players.
As I mentioned before, Illinois only got 18 points out of the three starters who weren’t freshmen. The freshmen put up a total of 41 points. And then you have Zvonimir Ivisic coming off the bench for 15 minutes and only putting up two points and going 1-of-5 from the field.
Illinois needs to start getting better production from the players who aren’t freshmen. We can’t play like this against good teams. You can’t expect Wagler to put up a 46-spot every night when we take on top 10 programs. The upperclassmen need to wake up, and Illinois needs to stop playing with our food, or one of these lower-level programs will knock us off.