The Kylan Boswell injury in mid-January was a tough one to swallow, as the Illinois basketball team lost one of our starters.
Most teams in the college game would struggle losing a starter, let alone one who is a senior. The Illini aren’t most teams, though. Instead of folding and struggling throughout a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule, somehow, Illinois seems to be getting stronger.
Illinois has now played five games without Boswell. All of the games have been wins, as the Illini are currently on a 12-game winning streak, looking to make it 13 games on Saturday night.
The winning margin for the Orange and Blue in those five games is 16.4 points per game, which is a bit skewed due to a 40-point drubbing of Northwestern. But we also beat two top-five teams on the road in that stretch.
Winning is impressive without a senior starter, but it is more impressive to me with what Illinois’ players are doing on the court. The games are elevating, and players who are getting more minutes are shining brightly.
Let’s take a look at Illinois’ star first. Keaton Wagler, a true freshman who has blown away the nation thus far, was averaging 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 45.9% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range, leading up to Boswell’s injury.
Wagler is only getting 4.1 minutes per game more with Boswell off the court, but he has improved his numbers over the last five games to 24.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 53.8% from the field and 50.0% from three-point range.
Let that soak in for a second. Wagler has increased his field goal and three-point shooting percentages by 7.9% over the last five games. He is also averaging 8.3 points and 2.2 assists more than he did in his first 18 games this season.
You can go down the list of Illinois players and see improvements across the board. David Mirkovic (+0.6% FG, +3.0% 3PT), Jake Davis (+1.6% 3PT), and Andrej Stojakovic (+1.6% 3PT) are all seeing better shooting numbers in the last five games.
As far as shooting goes, it is Ben Humrichous who takes the cake. Humrichous is only getting 2.7 minutes per game more in the last five games than in the first 18 contests he played, but he has increased his shooting greatly in the last five games.
Humrichous shot 34.1% from the field and 31.0% from three-point range in the first 18 games this season. In the last five contests, he shot 46.4% from the field and 42.3% from three-point range. So, since Boswell went out, Humrichous has stepped up and increased his field goal shooting by 12.3% and his three-point shooting by 11.3%.
Scoring is great, but the Illinois basketball team has other players who are stepping up in big ways
The scoring numbers are pretty eye-popping. The true team effort in replacing Boswell for the time being is incredible. There are some players who are struggling in the scoring department, but they are helping in other areas.
Tomislav Ivisic needs to find his offensive prowess sometime soon. His shooting from the field and three-point arc has dropped 8.3% and 7.3%, respectively, in the last five games. But he has made up for those offensive struggles by increasing his rebounding and assists. He was averaging 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in the first 15 contests he played this season. Over the last five games, he has averaged 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
I have been impressed with other players, too. Davis has over doubled his rebounds and assists in the last five games. As I said earlier, Wagler increased his assists by 2.2 assists per game. Stojakovic has increased his rebounds and assists as well.
Boswell went down with an injury, and at the time, it seemed like it could hurt this program. Instead of playing woe is me, Illinois rallied around the injury. We got stronger as a team, and that is something that is rare. That is a trait of a champion.