After suffering its first loss of the season against Texas Tech, the No. 3-ranked Illinois basketball team returned to the State Farm Center in Champaign intent on getting back in the win column against Sam Houston. However, the Bearkats had other plans, at least for the first 25 minutes.
Despite entering the contest as overwhelming favorites, Illinoisi struggled to put away a pesky Sam Houston squad before eventually pulling away for a 108-86 victory Friday.
The first half was anything but smooth sailing for coach Brad Underwood and the Illini. Sam Houston came out firing from beyond the arc, consistently answering Illinois’ attempts to build a comfortable lead.
The Bearkats refused to go away, keeping themselves within striking distance throughout the opening 20 minutes. At halftime, Illinois held just a 45-40 advantage, far from the dominant performance expected against a significantly overmatched opponent.
Unfortunately for the Illini, the start of the second half brought more of the same.
Sam Houston continued to hang around early after the break, knocking down shots and preventing Illinois from establishing complete control. Eventually, however, the Illini’s offensive firepower proved too much for the Bearkats to handle.
Tomislav Ivisic delivered his best offensive performance of the young season, pouring in 28 points, while Andrej Stojakovic continued his impressive start with 26 points. The duo helped Illinois finally create some separation and turn a surprisingly competitive contest into a comfortable victory.
Perhaps the most encouraging development was Illinois’ improvement in taking care of the ball. After turnovers and poor execution contributed to Tuesday’s loss against Texas Tech, the Illini committed just six turnovers Friday.
However, the defensive performance again left plenty to be desired. Sam Houston connected on 14 three-pointers, exposing some concerning weaknesses that Illinois will need to address moving forward.
Ultimately, Illinois did what it was supposed to do, improving to 3-1 and securing a much-needed bounce-back victory. It wasn’t always pretty, but a win is a win.
The competition is about to get significantly tougher, though, as the Illini head to Durham for a showdown against No. 2 Duke on Tuesday. Illinois will need to clean up its defensive issues if it hopes to pull off the upset against one of the nation’s best teams.
But those concerns can wait until Tuesday. For now, the Illini faithful can celebrate another victory, even if Friday’s win was a little uglier than expected.
An evening of orange and blue!
The freshman get it started
Tough start
That’s levitation, homes!
No range from 15 feet
Defense flexing its muscles
Another heinous half
Anyone else worried yet?
Big Z for THREE!
A world of hurt
A Big Z breakout
Stojakovic stays in fifth gear
Tomi Time
Bring your helmets to Durham
Tell ’em, Jon
Add us as a preferred source on Google
