Illinois basketball was in a fight with UCLA in the first half, as the score remains close entering halftime.
The Illini had stretches where we would extend the lead to double-digit points, but the Bruins weren’t giving in that easily.
UCLA has managed to hang around with some great mid-range and three-point shooting, and Illinois being sloppy with the basketball.
Here is the good and bad from the Illinois basketball 1st half against UCLA
Illinois basketball 1st half good
- Ball movement has been beautiful
Illinois is doing a great job penetrating the UCLA defense, and a big reason we have been able to accomplish this is that the ball movement has been incredible.
There have been numerous possessions when Illinois moved the ball and it led to points. We were able to break UCLA pressure around mid-court and passing got us an easy bucket.
The ball movement around the perimeter has also been great. This hasn’t just come from our guards either. Tomislav Ivisic has been great at distributing the ball. Every Illinois player can pass well, and we saw that in the first 20 minutes.
- Tomislav Ivisic is such a weapon
To piggyback on the last note, Ivisic has been great for Illinois. He can pull down rebounds with his 7-foot-1 size, but he is way more than just a big body.
Ivisic can play in the paint, but his three-point shooting has been great for the Illini in the first half too. He is not only making three-pointers, but his presence and ability from the outside opens up the paint for driving and slashing. I have said it before and I will say it again, Ivisic is the best big man I have ever seen for the Orange and Blue.
- Kasparas Jakucionis seems out of his funk
For the most part, I think Kasparas Jakucionis has had his best half of basketball in about a month. He looked good in the first half against UCLA.
Jakucionis was doing it all for the Illini. He brought the energy, and he was able to create and get Illinois into our offense. The only issue I have is that he had some sloppy turnovers. Sometimes he tries to do too much, and it bites him.
Illinois basketball 1st half bad
- Turnovers
I touched on this in the Jakucionis section of this article, but turnovers were an issue for Illinois in the first half.
The Illini finished the first half with nine turnovers, which means we are on pace for 18 turnovers in the game. That is not where we want to be. Tomislav Ivisic and Jakucionis make up for most of those turnovers, so if they just tighten things up a bit, we should be okay.