After a much-needed week off, the Illinois basketball team was back in action on Saturday night against Tennessee.
I had a worry that the Illini would be somewhat rusty to start the game, but boy howdy, was I wrong. Illinois looked great from the jump. We took an early lead and were keeping up with Tennessee.
A little surge by the Volunteers at the end of the first half gave them a halftime lead of two points. Illinois didn’t let the deficit get to more than two points, though. We came out in the second half and looked like an even better team. With just under seven minutes to go in the game, the Illini secured a double-digit lead. Tennessee would make a push, but Illinois pushed back, ultimately beating the Volunteers, 75-62.
Here are five massive observations from the Illinois basketball win over Tennessee
1. A freshman put Illinois on his back
There were a few Illini players who I thought had a great game against Tennessee. I was pleased with David Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic, and Kylan Boswell. But the player who blew me away was Keaton Wagler.
When Wagler steps on the court, his presence is felt. He isn’t just a freshman who shies away from the spotlight when it gets too bright. Wagler takes any challenge head-on, and he was ready to take down a top-15 Tennessee program.
Wagler finished the night with 16 points, eight rebounds, and five assists while shooting 5-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-11 from three-point range.
Two numbers stood out to me the most when it came to Wagler, though. One of the numbers is the fact that he had a total of zero turnovers in the game. That is incredible. The second number is the 34 minutes he played.
Brad Underwood trusted a freshman to play the second-most minutes on the court in a massive game. That shows you how much Underwood thinks of Wagler and his ability at such a young age.
Wagler was Illinois’ best player all game long. He got us started on the right track with energy, rebounding, and some big buckets. In the second half, when Tennessee was hanging around, Wagler shone his brightest. His back-to-back three-pointers extended Illinois’ lead to 42-37.
Illinois needed an answer for the Volunteers in the second half, and Wagler was that answer. He played his best basketball in crunch time, finishing the second half with 11 points, four rebounds, and one assist while shooting 3-of-7 from three-point range. His effort on the glass and moving the ball led directly to Illinois scoring 13 points as well. Wagler was a major reason Illinois won the game over Tennessee.
2. Zvonimir Ivisic gave the Illini such a spark off the bench
I know most people are going to look at the box score and give Tomislav Ivisic a ton of credit for Illinois securing the top 15 victory. He should get praise, as he had a big game.
While Tomislav dropped 16 points and was great from everywhere on the floor, it was his brother Zvonimir Ivisic who helped spark Illinois coming off the bench.
Ivisic had a pretty pedestrian first half of action. He played a few minutes and had a couple of fouls, made a bucket, and had a rebound. It was the second half that really helped the Illini get the victory.
The impact that Illinois felt from Ivisic wasn’t until late in the game. The Illini had already made the charge and took a double-digit lead. Tennessee wasn’t done, though. They started to chip away, and with a big three-pointer, the deficit narrowed to just 63-57 with under five minutes left in the game.
Momentum was clearly on Tennessee’s side, and Illinois needed to find something to turn the tide. That is when Ivisic flipped a switch. After the Tennessee bucket, Ivisic knocked down a three-pointer for himself. This got the lead back to nine points once again.
The Volunteers were still hot, though. They came back down and knocked down another three-pointer to bring the score to 66-60. Illinois needed another answer. Who did we call? Ivisic, of course. He came back down and drained another three-pointer to extend the lead to 69-60.
Ivisic was in the game for just over four minutes in that second half. The impact he made off the bench was so valuable for the Illini. Without him, who knows where this game might have ended up? He helped fend off a Tennessee charge and secure the Illinois win.
3. Second half rebounding was huge
What a weird game. When you look at the numbers, you would think Illinois should have lost this contest. None of it makes sense.
When you get blown out in the rebounding department, that usually means that you get beaten on the scoreboard. That is what happened to Illinois in the first half against Tennessee.
The Illini looked putrid on the glass in the first 20 minutes of action. The Volunteers beat us 25-11 in the rebounding department in the first half. One of my halftime observations was a silver lining that Illinois was only down two points but was outrebounded by double our total.
Clearly, Underwood got the message across at halftime. Illinois wasn’t the same team when it came to rebounding in the second 20 minutes. We actually played with energy and ferocity when going up for boards.
Illinois managed to essentially match Tennessee’s rebounding number in the second half, as the Volunteers narrowly outrebounded us 21-20.
The offensive rebounds were a huge help to the Illini in the second half as well. Illinois had 11 offensive rebounds for the game, but seven of those offensive rebounds came in the second half. The effort on the glass needed to be changed in the second half, and Underwood was able to tap into that extra effort at halftime.
4. I am not sure when Mihailo Petrovic will gel
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Illinois basketball team and what we have depth-wise.
Illinois had a great haul this past offseason, and this enables us to be able to legitimately go nine-deep. Most of the players are gelling and getting up speed, but there is still one glaring exception.
Mihailo Petrovic still doesn’t seem to be fitting in yet. On Saturday night, Illinois had a big scare when Boswell went down with an injury. He was holding his shoulder, and it looked like it could have been a bad injury for the star point guard.
After Boswell went to the bench, Underwood called upon Petrovic to fill in. Well, this didn’t go well. He played a total of six minutes in the game against Tennessee and finished 0-of-3 from the field with zero points and one turnover.
There is clearly a problem with Petrovic not meshing with the team yet. I mean, he has been injured for much of the season, and this past week was essentially his first week of practice, but there is definitely something off with his fit in the lineup.
One thing I noticed is that for someone who is touted as a good ball distributor, he often stands around and just pounds the rock. He seems to be more of a ball-stopper than a player who facilitates. This could be due to chemistry, but that is something I noticed in the game against the Volunteers.
Illinois still looks great, though. If we can beat a top 15 program like Tennessee without the help of Petrovic, just imagine what this squad looks like when he gets up to speed.
5. Tennessee struggled against Illinois’ big men
Illinois brings so many different looks to the court on a nightly basis. If you think you are going to kill us by taking out one way to put points on the board, we will find another way.
A big challenge for the Illini was going to be fending off their big men. Illinois has plenty of size, but can our size win the day? The answer was, yes.
The Illini big men were better than Tennessee’s big men. It is as simple as that. Tomislav Ivisic had a big day, going for 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.
Tennessee had zero answers for Ivisic. He had the skyhook going early and often. When the Volunteers would try to settle in, Ivisic would step out and shoot from three-point range and knock down 2-of-6.
Illinois’ big men being able to stretch the floor really gave Tennessee trouble. As I mentioned earlier, Zvonimir Ivisic came in during a stretch in the second half and knocked down back-to-back crucial three-pointers. Those are two players over 7-foot tall who went a combined 4-of-8 from three-point range. That just isn’t fair.
I believe David Mirkovic was a pest to Tennessee, too. He was someone who was going for every rebound and being more physical than the Volunteers in the second half. The energy and aggression he played with were huge for the Illini.
Illinois got crucial minutes from our big men. Tennessee couldn’t handle the versatility. That is something we need to always have to make this team as dangerous as possible.