5. The Illini couldn’t find a usual spark
Coming into the game on Wednesday night, Illinois managed to beat a hungry Ohio State team. It wasn’t an easy win, though.
In the victory over the Buckeyes, the Illini were down by 11 points in the second half. We needed some type of spark in that game, and the spark was found.
Tomislav Ivisic took over and started the scoring. Illinois got contributions from Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Morez Johnson Jr. Will Riley was showing his full repertoire of skills. And Kylan Boswell was extremely aggressive and played downhill.
Illinois needed all of that to take down Rutgers. We needed a nice team effort down the stretch to get over the hump. That never happened, though. The Illini couldn’t find the necessary spark.
Riley doesn’t deserve any blame. While he had some trouble defensively, he was electric on the offensive side of the court. He produced for Illinois.
Ivisic’s injury was brutal for Illinois. He was huge down the stretch against Ohio State, and he would have been big against the likes of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey.
Illinois didn’t get much else from anyone. Ben Humrichous was a nice surprise with his 10 points in the second half. Johnson had seven points, five of which came from the charity stripe.
Boswell and Gibbs-Lawhorn didn’t do much for the Illini. They had a combined eight points and were 0-of-3 from three-point range in the second half.
Illinois needed a great team effort or someone to take the reins against Rutgers. That spark never occurred, and the Illini weren’t able to beat the Scarlet Knights. This was a disappointing loss, and it has me worried moving forward.