Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Maryland

3. Illinois just couldn’t get anything to go

Sometimes basketball is just hard. Things just don’t go your way, and at the end of the game, you look at the box score and shake your head.

That is what happened to Illinois. Sure, there were plenty of things we could have done differently to help adjust the score to read that we won the game, but overall, Illinois just couldn’t get anything to go.

I can’t tell you how many layups we missed on Sunday. Most of the layups were from Quincy Guerrier who did a great job getting to the rim but couldn’t finish. He shot 2-of-10 for the game.

There were quite a few shots that Justin Harmon missed that were open. He usually knocks down the shots he was taking, but Harmon finished 0-of-7 from the field and missed all three three-pointers.

Ty Rodgers was another player who couldn’t get anything to go in the hoop. He didn’t do much differently from the Michigan State game, but it seemed that there was a lid on the Illinois hoop when Rodgers was getting to the rim.

I believe there are multiple areas where Illinois needs to improve heading into the game against Michigan, but sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. It isn’t a detriment to the Illinois basketball team or the players. It is just sports.