The Big Ten Tournament is entering the Final 4, and the Illinois basketball team is not a part of the festivities.
That pains me as an Illini fan. A team that was once 20-3 overall and 11-1 in the Big Ten, with a 12-game winning streak, is no longer competing for the Big Ten Tournament crown.
Illinois bowing out in the first game we played, the fourth round overall, is extremely disappointing. The way we tapped out of the tournament isn’t anything new, though.
Since pretty much the turn of the calendar to the month of February, Illinois has been in a weird place. We had that great win over then-No. 5 Nebraska, but the team has hit a roadblock since.
With the loss against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament, the Illini have now dropped five out of our last nine games. The only four wins have come against Indiana, USC, Oregon, and Maryland, none of which are projected NCAA tournament teams.
All but one of the losses have been close, as Illinois has fallen short in overtime in all of them. The loss to Michigan State was tough, but it is understandable, as it was on the road in East Lansing. The tumbling continued, though.
When you get to four losses in overtime in the last nine games, it goes from being a one-off to now being a trend. This ugly trend of not being able to close out games is killing the program, but why is it happening? I think it is pretty simple.
Veteran leadership.
Illinois has had the fun emergence of Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic. Both players have been great and led the Illini in scoring in 10 out of the last 13 games. They are just freshmen, though. Illinois needs the veteran leadership to step up and help these guys out.
The final five minutes and overtime has Illinois basketball leadership lost
So, I calculated the final five minutes and overtime in the four overtime losses Illinois has racked up over the past nine games. These have been tough losses, but I had a theory that our veteran leadership was letting us down.
We are looking at 10 minutes in each game, the final five minutes plus overtime, which is five minutes. I looked at the veterans, so Jake Davis, Ben Humrichous, Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic, Andrej Stojakovic, and Kylan Boswell.
Kylan Boswell didn’t play in the first two overtime losses, but did you know he didn’t take a shot in the final five minutes and overtime in the last two overtime losses to Wisconsin and UCLA?
In the final five minutes and overtime against the Badgers and Bruins, Boswell had two points, one rebound, and was 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He also had two fouls. The senior didn’t have a recorded shot attempt while the game was on the line.
Boswell isn’t the only upperclassman to bear the brunt of Illinois folding like a cheap lawn chair.
Jake Davis has put up two points, two rebounds, one steal, one turnover, and four fouls in the last five minutes and overtime in the four losses.
The only player to hit double-digit points out of the upperclassmen I have mentioned is Tomislav Ivisic. He has 11 points in the final five minutes and overtime in those four losses. He was just 3-of-9 from the field and 1-of-5 from three-point range, though.
When you combine the shooting numbers of Davis, Humrichous, Tomislav, Zvonimir, Stojakovic, and Boswell, they shot a combined 10-of-32, 31.3%, from the field and 4-of-20, 20%, from three-point range.
Illinois is losing these games in brutal fashion, and there has to be a point where we focus on the real problem: veteran leadership. The Illini experience needs to step up, but instead, they are drifting back into the shadows. This mentality is going to get us sent home from the NCAA tournament quickly if it continues.