After a tough stretch as of late, the Illinois basketball team and some of its most important players will greatly benefit from some should-be easy get-right games to close the season.
The Illini started the 2025-26 season 20-3 but has dropped 4 of its last 6 and now sits at 22-7. Luckily, with Oregon and Maryland on the slate, star players who have been slumping will have a chance to find their game before NCAA tournament season starts.
Although there are multiple reasons for this slide, like overall health or an inability to win in overtime, one of the main causes has been the lack of production out of players like Andrej Stojakovic and the Ivisic brothers, Tomislav and Zvonimir.
While Stojakovic was solid in the loss to Michigan State, with 17 points and seven rebounds, he has been a non-factor in the last two games against UCLA and Michigan. Between both games, he has combined for eight points and four rebounds.
The fix to get Stojakovic going again is simple. Have him drive to the hoop. When he is going downhill and creating contact, he and the Illini offense are at their best.
Stojakovic is shooting nearly 84% from the charity stripe while making nearly 50% of his field goals. His speed and ability to make shots fall around the hoop have powered his success throughout the season, and it is something he needs to get back to in these final games.
Likewise, both Ivisics have had their fair share of struggles. Rebounding has been a major weakness as of late, highlighted by the four combined the pair had against Michigan.
Given both players' massive size, the Illini need more out of them to help the team maintain its identity as a strong rebounding unit. Moreover, the three-point shooting out of both has been lackluster to say the least.
For a team that emphasizes threes as this Illinois offense does, their misses add to the lack of explosiveness it has seen in recent losses. Both need to take the opportunities in these final games to find their rhythm again.
The best way to get out of a slump is to play through it. All three of these players are incredibly talented and too important to the success of the Illini for their contributions to be as small as they have been in recent games.
There is still great reason to believe that these players and this team are good enough to go on a run in March. However, they need to turn it up a notch if they want to look better on the court than they do on paper.