2. Illinois needed Marcus Domask to find his confidence
Illinois started the game against Nebraska not playing well. Let me rephrase that. Everyone on the Illinois basketball team besides Terrence Shannon Jr. started the game poorly.
Marcus Domask was coming off one of the worst games as a member of the Illini. We squeaked by Ohio State on Friday despite Domask contributing seven points on 3-of-16 shooting from the floor. He was playing some horrific basketball.
But Domask never has back-to-back bad games. He has the memory of a goldfish and forgets about those bad games. Nebraska felt the wrath of Domask once he found his confidence again on Saturday.
It took Domask a little bit to get in the groove, but he hit a couple of free throws and finally saw a three-point attempt hit the bottom of the net. That is when things really turned around.
In the first half, Domask helped keep Illinois close to Nebraska. While the Cornhuskers had an 11-point lead at the break, Domask contributed 10 huge points and was able to keep Illinois alive for a big second-half surge.
Domask ended up with 16 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and one steal on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor and 2-of-5 from three-point range. Illinois can’t go far if Domask isn’t putting up solid numbers. Even though Shannon had a legendary game, without Domask’s production, a victory wasn’t possible. I am glad to see he got his confidence back.