The halves in No. 3 Illinois’ visit to No. 16 Texas Tech on Tuesday could not have been more different, but in the end, the whole is all that matters. The Illini (2-1) dominated the second half of the game in Lubbock, Texas – but only after falling behind by 20 at the break. Their comeback attempt wound up falling just short, as the Red Raiders (3-0) held on 84-78 in the closing moments.
Here are the key quotes from coach Brad Underwood in his postgame press conference:
Brad Underwood on Illinois’ rebounding and free-throw woes
“Really looked very similar to our Baylor exhibition,” Underwood said. “We have got to make winning plays. And part of making winning plays is rebounding the basketball. And we weren’t very good at that tonight. Ethan [Brown] and Zavier [Zens] were our leading defensive rebounders.
“We talked about it a lot for two days. … And then, obviously, being tough enough to make free throws. I don’t know in my lifetime if I’ve ever had a team go 8-for-20 from the free-throw line.”
The Illini bigs need to be better on the glass. Tomislav Ivisic was excellent on offense and defensively. But three defensive rebounds in 30 minutes isn’t cutting it (Zvonimir Ivisic added one in 11 minutes).
As for the free-throw shooting, there isn’t much Illinois can do about that. The personnel isn’t a problem. The Illini have shooters. Perhaps they just need more reps in raucous road environments – which, lucky them, they’ll get next week at Duke.
Rebounding and rebounding
“Again, the game is 18 offensive rebounds to 10,” Underwood said. “Just literally have to rebound the basketball. And I’m tired of watching us get shoved. I’m tired of giving up rebounds. I think it’s a one-possession game and they get three shots [ending in a Donovan Atwell three]. We’ve got to be better than that. So that’s on me. And we’ll continue to work to change that.”
Agreed. If Illinois wants to win a national title, it does need to be much better than that on the boards. The Illini had a gigantic size advantage – and wound up losing on the glass 43-32. There is no excuse.
Illinois’ defensive turnaround in the second half
“Well, one, we were a little more aggressive on the ball,” Underwood said. “And, secondly, we quit making some mistakes in our ball-screen coverage. And then the other part of that was [that we] forced them to play in the halfcourt.
“The first half was just live-ball turnovers, pick sixes, whatever you want to call them, giving them easy baskets. But I thought our defense has been pretty good. And you can’t help your defense when you’re turning it over at the rate we did in the first half.”
Texas Tech did have 15 points off turnovers in the first half. But it was also scoring with plenty of success in the halfcourt. The real difference seemed to just be energy. And the success the Illini found switching on ball screens helped, too.
Brad Underwood on Illinois turning to ball screens in the second half
“I think that Tomi’s very good in that … we thought it was a way to stress their defense,” Underwood said. “They were pretty aggressive on the ball. Again, [Quentin Coleman] and Ethan and [Stefan Vaaks] – all those guys will get better in those roles and making those reads. We held onto the ball too long. We missed Tomi probably on four or five pops that I thought he had opportunities to get threes.”
Coleman could have hit Ivisic for an open three maybe three times on one possession alone. The Illini guards will grow in ball-screen action as time wears on. And it would be nice to see Illinois continue sprinkling in the pick-and-roll (which seems to be the likely case).
Brad Underwood ‘couldn’t be any more pleased’ with Tomislav Ivisic
“His leadership was incredible,” Underwood said of Ivisic. “Tomi has been incredible. There’s a reason he’s one of the best bigs in the country. He can do it all. We had some post-up stuff.
“He had one really late that he just missed with his right hand. … But his leadership has been incredible. And he’s a great talker. He’s a great communicator. I couldn’t be any more pleased with the way Tomi is playing, because he’s doing a little bit of everything.”
Ivisic finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. He did some great things – that dribble drive into the spin move and-one was spectacular. But, again, he needs to be better on the defensive glass. And four turnovers for a big is unacceptable.
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