Illinois basketball has had plenty of losses in my lifetime, but the game against Michigan was one of the worst feelings I have had.
Something about this game meant a lot. The Illini had a potential No. 1 seed hanging in the balance, or at least we could have made a case for one. But I think the most hurtful thing about the loss to Michigan was the fact that I believed Illinois had a national championship-caliber team this season, and we fell flat against one of the best teams in the country.
Illinois wasn’t in this game. Even when it was single digits in the first half and somewhat into the second half, it always felt like Michigan had us at arm’s length. The Illini didn’t have answers for the Wolverines at both ends, and the result was an 84-70 loss to Michigan, and it wasn’t even that close.
Here are five painful observations from the Illinois basketball loss to Michigan
1. Keaton Wagler can’t do this by himself
When Illinois wins, it is fun to lift up Keaton Wagler and say he is insanely good. He is one of the best players I have ever seen come through this program. The kid is just a freshman.
On the same note, the Illini are leaning on this kid a little too much. While I love seeing him go off and figure out how to score when a team like Michigan is bearing down on him, sadly, he can’t do this by himself.
Illinois’ players are standing around a lot and just hoping that Wagler pulls off some magical stuff. Sometimes he does, and he hits a step-back three-pointer, or he makes a beautiful pass to get a guy open.
But it is painful to watch Wagler working and getting beaten up, while the rest of the team is just twiddling their thumbs. I was already a little sketched out about Illinois being led by a freshman, but it is disheartening when upperclassmen aren’t doing their jobs and just relying on Wagler. That has to change.
2. It was a disappearing act by Kylan Boswell in the second half
I thought Illinois played okay in the first half. I graded them out to a C+, and the fact that we were down by just seven points playing like that was a positive sign.
What I liked about the first half was that Kylan Boswell was aggressive. When he gets going downhill and to the rim, he is at his best. Boswell finished that first 20 minutes of action with a team-high 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. He was 5-of-6 from two-point range.
That is what Illinois needed to stay within striking distance. He made Michigan be on their heels because we weren’t just jacking up shots from three-point range. The Wolverines actually had to watch out for the driving Boswell.
The second half was completely different, though. It is like Boswell mentally checked out of the game. He was a completely different person, and it showed on the court.
Boswell only took two two-point shots in the final 20 minutes of action. He was 1-of-5 from the field for four points, which includes going 1-of-3 from three-point range. The three-pointer he made was in garbage time, too.
Illinois has to have Boswell engaged in the game. When he checks out, the offense stalls, and we become a much less efficient team.
3. There is no reason to respect Tomislav Ivisic on the 3-point arc
At one time in Tomislav Ivisc’s Illinois career, he was a decent three-point shooter. He was someone who could stretch the floor and cause problems for opposing teams.
That isn’t the case anymore, though. Somewhere down the line, he lost his ability to shoot from three-point range, and it is killing the Illini right now.
In the game against Michigan, Ivisic continued to prove that teams don’t have to take him seriously from deep anymore. He dropped seven points for the entire night, and he was just 1-of-6 from three-point range.
Over the last four games, Ivisic has been about the same, too. He is a combined 5-of-22, 22.7%, from three-point range in this stretch.
To have Illinois’ offense work, we need the constant threat of the three-point shot from all areas. Ivisic isn’t a good paint player. He can’t shoot from three-point range. At this point, is he just a 7-foot-1 manikin that Underwood puts out there? Illinois needed more out of him on Friday night, and we didn’t get it.
4. Illinois bench production was pitiful against Michigan
When some players don’t play well, Illinois needs to find a spark. The bench has provided that spark in the past at times, but when we reached back for the bench against Michigan, there was nothing.
Illinois’ bench was just as bad or worse than the starters on Friday. After the injuries, Andrej Stojakovic lost his starting job. Since his relegation to the bench, he has been awful.
Against the Wolverines, Stojakovic played 12 minutes and was 0-of-2 from the floor with one rebound, two fouls, and one turnover. He was unwatchable. Literally, whenever he would get the ball, something bad would happen. That is why he played just over 25% of the game.
In the last two games combined, Stojakovic has played 39 minutes and only contributed eight points on 1-of-7 shooting from the floor and 0-of-3 from three-point range. That is a junior who is supposed to be a leader.
It is not like Illinois’ other bench players were spectacular, though. Ben Humrichous was the best of the bunch with five points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor. He also had three rebounds and one assist. Underwood needed to run more for Humrichous.
Much like Stojakovic, Zvonimir Ivisic is frustrating me, too. He is a 7-foot-2 big man who can’t understand that when you leave your feet on defense, bad things happen. That is why UCLA scored the game-winning bucket. That is why he struggled so much against Michigan.
Ivisic only gave the Illini two points and was 1-of-3 from the field. The Ivisic brothers, at 7-foot-1 and 7-foot-2, had a combined four rebounds in the game. That is wild.
5. Brad Underwood didn’t do enough for Illinois’ shooters
I know this had a little bit to do with Michigan’s gameplan and defense against Illinois, but we needed to do more to get our three-point shooters open.
I touched on Humrichous in the last section, only taking three shots in the game. Only two of those three shots were from three-point range. Coming into Friday night, Humrichous was 8-of-16, 50%, from three-point range in his last two contests. Only taking two three-pointers is unacceptable.
You also have Jake Davis out there being able to shoot well, but not taking enough attempts. He was a combined 7-of-12, 58.3%, from three-point range in his last two games coming into the contest against the Wolverines. Davis only got four shots up, and all four were three-pointers.
How is this a thing? Illinois took 29 three-point attempts on Friday night, and only six of those attempts were from Humrichous and Davis, who are shooting 35.7% and 41.6% from three-point range, respectively, this season.
This was a systemic failure by Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff. You can’t allow Michigan to dictate the game that much. Let your shooters shoot.