It was not a fair fight, as the Illinois basketball team throttled the Missouri High School Kitty Cats on Monday night.
You have to earn the Tigers' name. Tigers are apex predators that are at the top of the food chain. On Monday night, the Illini were the ones at the top of the food chain feasting.
Missouri had zero answers for what was going on. Illinois was suffocating from the opening tip. Throughout the game, the announcers were trying to make excuses for the Tigers with injuries and whatnot, but this was a good old fashioned butt whooping by the Orange and Blue.
The Tigers did keep up for the first roughly 12 minutes of the game. It was a three-point contest with under eight minutes to go in the first half. You then blinked, and Illinois went into halftime with a 16-point lead. That 16-point lead increased by the second in the second half, with the Illini coming out with a massive 91-48 victory over Missouri.
Here are five observations from the giant Illinois basketball win over Missouri
1. Keaton Wagler is Illinois’ most complete player
Illinois is laced with upperclassmen. You have players like Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, and Andrej Stojakovic who all have multiple years in the college ranks.
With those players, and more, on the Illinois roster with plenty of experience, the one player who stands out among them all is true freshman Keaton Wagler.
On Monday night, Wagler proved once again that he is the most complete player on the Illinois roster. Offensively, he dazzles with his ball handling and ability to create his own shot. When he gets the rock beyond the three-point arc, it is fun to see him process what he is going to do with it.
Wagler can take his man off the dribble or go between his legs and hit a prime James Harden-esque three-pointer. He can also get around his man when going to the hoop.
While the offensive abilities are mesmerizing, Wagler isn’t a one-trick pony. His defensive abilities blow me away, and he showed that against Missouri.
I believe Wagler took two charges in the game, and he also had two blocks. The ability to have the discipline not to foul is incredible. His man could be driving, and he just doesn’t foul. Not once can I remember Wagler getting in foul trouble this season.
It is so fun to watch Wagler on the court. This kid isn’t just a great player; he is the best freshman I have ever seen in Champaign, and he is skyrocketing up the charts of best players of all-time. What a time to be alive.
2. A quality game from Ben Humrichous
While Wagler is a complete player, the Illini played a complete game against the Tigers. Missouri had zero answers for whatever Illinois was throwing at them, and some of that firepower came from the bench.
I can be hard on Ben Humrichous at times, but this super senior impressed me on Monday night. He came off the bench and gave Illinois 23 crucial minutes. Nearly all of the minutes weren’t garbage time, and honestly, he was one of the best players on the team.
Humrichous finished the night with nine points, two rebounds, and one assist. He shot 3-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range.
The offensive numbers were good for Humrichous, but it was his defense that pulled it all together. On multiple occasions, Humrichous was guarding a quicker player. That didn’t matter to him, though. He used his fundamentals and teachings, and he stayed in front of his man. He didn’t let him blow by him.
Humrichous is a good player, but if we can get him to be above average on both ends of the court, Illinois has a dangerous weapon on the bench. What I saw against Missouri was encouraging.
3. Illinois’ perimeter defense came through
There were a few things I wanted to key in on for the Missouri game. I had questions I needed answered, and the Illini answered one of them in a big way.
I wanted to see if the Illinois defense could shut down Missouri on the three-point arc. This is a good Tigers unit, and they can hit shots from deep efficiently. On Monday night, Illinois showed up on the perimeter.
Missouri finished the game going just 6-of-22, 27%, from three-point range. This includes a putrid 3-of-13 from Missouri's starters and 1-of-4 from one of their best three-point shooters, Jacob Crews.
Let’s not forget, the Tigers averaged hitting their three-pointers at a clip of 37.4% entering the game. That ranked No. 45 in the country. This team had a chance to absolutely dominate from long range, but Illinois denied them.
I can put a lot of the reasoning on Illinois’ length. Missouri is a big team that can shoot, but the Illini have long players, too. Wagler is 6-foot-6, Stojakovic is 6-foot-7, David Mirkovic is 6-foot-9, and Tomislav Ivisic is 7-foot-1. That is all in the Illini’s starting lineup. Missouri couldn’t handle that length.
4. It is amazing how quickly Mihailo Petrovic fell out of the rotation
There is one thing that I will point out that might be taken on the negative side. It was a great game for Illinois basketball, as we dominated Missouri in the Braggin’ Rights game. But it is hard not to notice a difficult situation on the Illinois bench.
Coming into the season, landing Mihailo Petrovic was big for Illinois. He was supposed to be our starting point guard and someone who could easily transition the program from the Kasparas Jakucionis era.
I thought Petrovic was going to be the starting No. 1 guard, and that would free up Kylan Boswell to move to the No. 2 spot. That didn’t end up being the case, though.
Petrovic was dealing with injuries to start the season. He then saw some action, but Brad Underwood mentioned that he hadn’t practiced much, so he wasn’t gelling with the team. Once he got some practice underneath him, he would start getting the game down.
Well, Illinois has had some time off, and there was plenty of time to practice. The result is Petrovic barely getting into the game.
The first time we saw Petrovic in a blowout win over Missouri was in the final minutes. He only played two minutes in the game and had two assists and a turnover.
There might be a point in time when Petrovic gets back into the starting lineup or at least plays more minutes on the bench, but right now, Underwood clearly doesn’t trust him. Only playing two minutes is mind-blowing compared to the expectations from the offseason. It is going to take a lot for him to get back into the rotation.
5. Welcome back, Tomislav Ivisic
Coming into the big Braggin’ Rights matchup, I needed to see more out of Tomislav Ivisic. He had been missing the past couple of contests.
It was frustrating seeing Ivisic struggle on the court. He had a combined 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks against Nebraska and Ohio State. That type of production in a two-game span will result in Illinois losing a lot of games this season.
Thankfully, Ivisic woke up in a big way against Missouri. Sadly, for the Tigers, it had to be on Monday night.
Ivisic unleashed his full repertoire of abilities. He was electric offensively, going for 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range. He was also tough to stop inside, as he got to the charity stripe four times and converted three of the attempts.
14 points in 21 minutes is exactly what Illinois needs out of Ivisic. He had more points than in his last two games combined. I was also happy with his five rebounds. Ivisic was active in every aspect of the game on the court.
Illinois needs that Ivisic to show up more. If we can get him to play like this every night, it will be tough to stop this freight train.