Illinois basketball had a bad combination on Saturday night in the Elite 8.
The combination is a blend of a bad game by the Illini mixed in with going up against the best team in college basketball. The result? A 30+ point second half deficit that was insurmountable.
There was nothing Illinois could do in that second half. Our bad offensive night finally bit us in the butt when our defense started letting up. UConn went on an incredible scoring run that ended with Illinois being out of the game with over 10 minutes to go. The Illini narrowed the margin slightly, but we still fell to UConn, 77-52.
Here are five crushing observations from the Illinois basketball loss to UConn
1. No one stepped up to help Terrence Shannon Jr.
Before the Elite 8 game started on Saturday, I mentioned in the Five Massive Questions article that Illinois needed someone to step up to help Terrence Shannon Jr.
I figured UConn was going to come in with a defensive game plan that shut down Shannon. This would only make sense considering he is one of the best players in the country. Shut him down and make the rest of the crew beat you.
That game plan worked for the Huskies. They took Shannon out of the game and made players like Marcus Domask, Quincy Guerrier, and Co. beat them, which they clearly didn’t.
Domask had a great start to the game and kept us in it when the rest of the offense wasn’t working. The 15 points in the first half were huge, but UConn made some halftime adjustments and held him to just two points in the second half.
I was disappointed by Coleman Hawkins' showing. Quincy Guerrier had an okay game for him, but with others not playing well, this would have been a great opportunity for him to step up.
The four players I mentioned are all at least four-year seniors and most have played five years in college. I was expecting that leadership and experience to kick in, but it never did on Saturday night.
None of this takes away from the great 2023-24 campaign. But in the end, the offensive help for Shannon just wasn’t there.