Illinois basketball was playing well coming into the game on Friday night against the Purdue Boilermakers.
The last game against Michigan gave the Illini a lot of confidence. We went up to Ann Arbor and beat the ranked Wolverines program on Senior Day by 20 points. That is a win that can help propel a team to great heights.
Beating Purdue was going to be a bigger challenge, though. The Boilermakers have good guard play and a solid forward big man who can cause chaos. For much of the game, that was the way it was playing out too.
Illinois had a hard time stopping the pick-and-roll that Purdue was flawlessly running. Trey Kaufman-Renn was getting whatever he wanted. Midway through the second half, everything changed. The Illini started playing incredibly well.
From that point on, Purdue didn’t have much of an answer. Illinois was able to get some key stops down the stretch too. With some big shots, Illinois was able to take down Purdue, 88-80.
Here are five massive observations from the Illinois basketball win over the Purdue Boilermakers
1. One of the most clutch shots from Kasparas Jakucionis
Throughout history, the Illinois basketball program has had some pretty big shots.
You can think back to the Brandon Paul game winner in the Big Ten Tournament. For older heads, the Nick Anderson three-pointer to beat Indiana on the road in 1989. Or how about, and I still get goosebumps and remember where I was, the Tyler Griffey game winning layup to beat No. 1 Indiana in 2013.
Those buzzer beaters were massive shots, but all clutch shots don’t have to come at the buzzer. On Friday night against Purdue, Illinois needed a spark. We needed someone to hit a shot to put us over the edge. Who stepped up?
King Kasparas.
Tied at 79 a piece with under a minute left, Kasparas Jakucionis hit one of the most clutch shots in recent memory. This bucket with 40 seconds remaining put Illinois up 82-79 and was a part of a 10-2 run to give the Orange and Blue the lead.
A miss by Jakucionis would open the door for Purdue. The Boilermakers could have come down the court and got the ball to Trey Kaufman-Renn, and he would have likely made a two-point shot and took the lead. That didn’t happen due to Jakucionis’ massive shot.
I feel like it has been a while since we have had a big shot like Jakucionis just made on Friday night. This type of bucket, that type of win, is what will help propel this team in the postseason. What a game.