Illinois basketball is going up against one of the giants of the college game, and we are keeping up.
Kentucky got off to a hot start. They were hitting shots, and the Illini were giving the ball away like it was our job. But things settled down, and Illinois started to get aggressive.
The Wildcats also cooled down a bit. Despite an ugly first half of basketball, Illinois is only down 37-32 heading into halftime.
Here is the Illinois basketball good and bad from the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats
Good
- Tomislav Ivisic is kind of keeping Illinois in the game
I am not sure where Illinois would be without Tomislav Ivisic. He was huge for the program offensively.
Ivisic led the Illini in scoring for much of the first half. When we needed a bucket, he stepped up. Kentucky went on runs, and Ivisic scored to help keep us in the game. He was also great in the rebounding department, and he facilitated a lot on the offensive end of the court. Ivisic was huge for Illinois.
- The final 8 minutes were special for Kylan Boswell
You could feel the game starting to slip away. Ivisic couldn’t do this all by himself. Kylan Boswell answered the bell.
Starting at the eight-minute mark, Boswell turned on the aggressive Boswell. He started to get more active on both ends of the court. Boswell got into the lane and was creating scoring opportunities. He also had a great move against Kentucky big man Amari Williams that left Williams with two broken ankles and a missing jockstrap.
Bad
- Illinois doesn’t care for the ball
In the first half, and especially in the first 10 minutes, Illinois did not take care of the basketball. We were giving it away, and I don’t know how Kentucky didn’t blow us away in the first 20 minutes.
Illinois had eight turnovers in the first half, and they were lazy turnovers. These weren’t attempts to make a play. The Illini sloppily didn’t take care of the ball, and it is the reason we are behind the Wildcats at the half.
- That was Kasparas Jakucionis’ worst half of the season
Illinois had some big plays from some important players, but one player who didn’t show up to the first half was Kasparas Jakucionis.
This was the worst half of basketball I have seen Jakucionis play all season. He didn’t look engaged. He was hesitant to shoot the ball. The icing on the cake was that he had four turnovers. This was a bad first half of basketball, and it hurt Illinois greatly.