The Illinois basketball team just took down a good Xavier team that has a potent offense.
Xavier averaged 78.3 points per game and hit three-pointers at a clip of 39.1% entering the game against the Illini, which ranked No. 56 and No. 6 in the nation, respectively. Those are good numbers, and they were a scary team, as told by Brad Underwood in the postgame press conference.
“I’ll be honest, I was scared to death. Watching them against Texas the other night, and knowing how hot they were, and what they were doing shooting the basketball. They lead the country in the last six games from three.”
While Underwood did mention the fear he had in the Xavier program, he had his Illinois squad ready for the challenge.
Weirdly, Xavier was right on their season average of 39.1% from three-point range. But their main starters didn’t have a good night. Ryan Conwell was only 1-of-5 from deep and 3-of-10 from the field. Zach Freemantle was right in line with Conwell, as he was 2-of-9 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range.
These are two players who can light up a scoreboard on any given night. Going up against what had been a bad Illinois three-point shooting defense should have been a disaster for the Illini. That didn’t end up being the case. Underwood also talked a little bit about his team’s defense on Conwell and Freemantle.
“The defense by Kylan on Conwell was a big part of in terms of the difference of the ball game. He was 3-of-10, 1-of-5 from three. Really one of the most gifted players offensively in the tournament. And then I thought we did a really nice job on Freemantle. Tomi held him to 2-of-9, 1-of-4 from three and five points. Those are their two leading scorers.”
Illinois basketball is going to have to continue the lockdown defense heading into the second round of the NCAA tournament against Kentucky
Xavier was a really good team offensively, and Illinois was able to hold their own when it mattered the most. The fact we could contain that offense to just 73 points is an impressive feat, all things considered.
But the next game in the NCAA tournament is going to be against Kentucky. This is a different animal. The Wildcats have better players and better athletes on the floor. They also have better offensive numbers than the Musketeers.
Kentucky can hold their own from three-point range, shooting 37.4% on the season. This is a high-powered team that plays quickly and scores at a high rate. They average 85.3 points per game this season and are top 20 in possessions per game. Illinois will be in a tough fight on Sunday.