First of all this game was a war. It was as ugly as your best friend's sister in terms of offense but make no mistake, these were two very evenly matched teams in terms of ability and talent scrapping and scrumming in a battle for 2nd place in the league. It seems like many of the RU-Illinois games are these exciting slugfest whether low scoring or high scoring. Everyone remembers the 3 OT game at the RAC with Corey Sanders, the season ending win at the RAC that effectively knocked Illinois out of the NCAA tourney and the OT loss at Illinois last year and now yet another classic down to the wire game in what to me I see as RU's closest matched rival in the Big 10 play. Look we can be disappointed we did not win this game but these things are going to happen. This league is very evenly matched. It is very tough to steal one on the road, the window of opportunity is small. RU was right there. Tie game, two minutes to go...you cannot really ask for anything more in this league. It came down to two minutes and Illinois made the plays to win and RU didn't. Its a fine line isn't it and it will not be the first game that goes this way, you just hope that its RU making the plays the next time.
Well RU had done a mercurial job in winning two league games without Geo Baker but its clear in this game its absence in the end couldnt be overcome. Geo thrives in those late game situations. Everything goes through him. We wouldn't be relying on a freshmen to make a big assist and maybe with Geo in our offensive production would have been alot stronger. Smart people knew sooner or later not having him in the lineup would be an issue and today was the day. Our guards with the exception of Young simply struggled to get into any flow. There were too many forced jump shots taken and too many ill advised drives among the trees. I have no doubt that Geo would have had a more settling effect as leader.
As to specifically why RU lost. Well as usual its rebounding. I note at halftime that RU led 24-23 but down 9-4 on the offensive end. Cockburn already had 10 at the break and Myles absence because of foul trouble was the reason. Still even without Myles, RU led by 3 at the break. but seriously Illinois wasnt going to shoot 19% in the 2nd half, RU had to be kicking itself for not taking greater advantage offensivley. Now lets just say both teams played outstanding defense but there were also a ton of bricks put up by both teams. It seemed as if Illinois just won every scrum though and a key stretch which I think changed the game for Illinois was at 28-22 where they won the rebounding all 3 times on possession and was able to tie the game at 28. I think it really kept them into the game and seemed like their offense also got better after that. I think at one point, Illinois had a 14-3 lead in offensive rebounds and was winning 18-9 in the 2nd half. When you are giving your opponent double the opportunities you can see why even with their shooting woes, the Illini were in decent shape. Myles picking up that third foul..silly was just dreadful. He has to be smarter than that. I will not even go into his penchant for getting called for those screens. Myles needs to understand to keep his focus and limit the frustration. We see when Myles came back in he was able to get some layups and Young was keeping RU alive with the 3 ball.
Admittedly I thought RU was done for at 42-38 with about 5 to play but Caleb stayed with it to put in a miss and the Jacob rained down a 3 and then Mathis hit one as well...suddenly RU up 46-44 and wait we really could win this. RU made a couple of crucial stops and then at 46-44 if only Harper didnt slip there we could have had some seperation with 2 minutes to go..did he slip or was he fouled, will have to see the replay but damn that was a big turning point. On the other end, Feliz hit the jumper in transition..a potential 4 point swing there. Then a timeout and Paul inserted into the game, obviously this was a set called play and something was supposed to happen where we would all be ravng Paul, Myles, and Pike when it happened....but it was obvious it wasnt going to happen, Paul was in trouble and didnt bail on it and forced a pass to Myles that went off his foot. @ straight empty possession. Meanwhile great job by Underwood of having Dousonmu drive in and predictably get fouled. Then Myles called for illegal screen...third straight empty possession. Next Illinois possession, they miss a 3 but a HUGE rebound by Georgi and that 2nd chance basket by Dousonmu basically was all she wrote. RU couldnt connect on jumpers and inexplicably didnt even foul down 54-51 with 4 seconds left
Will not go individually because its evident most players just had a really bad offensive game but the brightest spot was Jacob Young again, under control and making big time baskets....6-14, 4-7 from 3 , 16 points and zero turnovers in 27 minutes. Lets not downplay what we are seeing from him. This is a tremendous leap again for him...3 big time games in a row. I think Doucoure gets a mention because of his 6 boards in 9 minutes stepping into his role...all you can ask for him. I think Carter had moments too but its clearly he is ineffective vs Illinois on the boards.
Bottom line, Illinois made plays to win, Rutgers did not. Illinois won crunch time and their strong rebounding put them in position to win the game down the stretch. RU could have won this game but at this level, close gets you nowhere. Not sure if Pikiell could have done anything different this game. Its clear that the shots were not going and Myles was not focused this game. Without Geo there are just so many buttons that Pike can push. This team layed it all out defensively in another sterling efffort but the bugaboo of struggling with shooting once again bit them. Tough to win on the road when you have 3 guards getting just 11 points and your big man is a non factor. Illinois deserved the win. Tip your hat to them.
Some learning lessons today that you need 100% focus in league play. No one feels sorry for you and no one is going to hand anything to you. Something to be aware of for Indiana. RU can get beat by Indiana at the RAC. Things can change in a hurry. You can look like top 25 one day and 10th place the next. Its a big game because every game is a big game. You lose won battle and onto the next. This is what cannibalism looks like in league play. Only the strongest survive at the end but we will not know that until March. Be happy as fans that RU is in a position that shows that they have clearly taken the next step overall as a program. Its about winning the war in March, you may lose battles its how you bounce back from those losses that will determine if you still have a heartbeat in March
Well RU had done a mercurial job in winning two league games without Geo Baker but its clear in this game its absence in the end couldnt be overcome. Geo thrives in those late game situations. Everything goes through him. We wouldn't be relying on a freshmen to make a big assist and maybe with Geo in our offensive production would have been alot stronger. Smart people knew sooner or later not having him in the lineup would be an issue and today was the day. Our guards with the exception of Young simply struggled to get into any flow. There were too many forced jump shots taken and too many ill advised drives among the trees. I have no doubt that Geo would have had a more settling effect as leader.
As to specifically why RU lost. Well as usual its rebounding. I note at halftime that RU led 24-23 but down 9-4 on the offensive end. Cockburn already had 10 at the break and Myles absence because of foul trouble was the reason. Still even without Myles, RU led by 3 at the break. but seriously Illinois wasnt going to shoot 19% in the 2nd half, RU had to be kicking itself for not taking greater advantage offensivley. Now lets just say both teams played outstanding defense but there were also a ton of bricks put up by both teams. It seemed as if Illinois just won every scrum though and a key stretch which I think changed the game for Illinois was at 28-22 where they won the rebounding all 3 times on possession and was able to tie the game at 28. I think it really kept them into the game and seemed like their offense also got better after that. I think at one point, Illinois had a 14-3 lead in offensive rebounds and was winning 18-9 in the 2nd half. When you are giving your opponent double the opportunities you can see why even with their shooting woes, the Illini were in decent shape. Myles picking up that third foul..silly was just dreadful. He has to be smarter than that. I will not even go into his penchant for getting called for those screens. Myles needs to understand to keep his focus and limit the frustration. We see when Myles came back in he was able to get some layups and Young was keeping RU alive with the 3 ball.
Admittedly I thought RU was done for at 42-38 with about 5 to play but Caleb stayed with it to put in a miss and the Jacob rained down a 3 and then Mathis hit one as well...suddenly RU up 46-44 and wait we really could win this. RU made a couple of crucial stops and then at 46-44 if only Harper didnt slip there we could have had some seperation with 2 minutes to go..did he slip or was he fouled, will have to see the replay but damn that was a big turning point. On the other end, Feliz hit the jumper in transition..a potential 4 point swing there. Then a timeout and Paul inserted into the game, obviously this was a set called play and something was supposed to happen where we would all be ravng Paul, Myles, and Pike when it happened....but it was obvious it wasnt going to happen, Paul was in trouble and didnt bail on it and forced a pass to Myles that went off his foot. @ straight empty possession. Meanwhile great job by Underwood of having Dousonmu drive in and predictably get fouled. Then Myles called for illegal screen...third straight empty possession. Next Illinois possession, they miss a 3 but a HUGE rebound by Georgi and that 2nd chance basket by Dousonmu basically was all she wrote. RU couldnt connect on jumpers and inexplicably didnt even foul down 54-51 with 4 seconds left
Will not go individually because its evident most players just had a really bad offensive game but the brightest spot was Jacob Young again, under control and making big time baskets....6-14, 4-7 from 3 , 16 points and zero turnovers in 27 minutes. Lets not downplay what we are seeing from him. This is a tremendous leap again for him...3 big time games in a row. I think Doucoure gets a mention because of his 6 boards in 9 minutes stepping into his role...all you can ask for him. I think Carter had moments too but its clearly he is ineffective vs Illinois on the boards.
Bottom line, Illinois made plays to win, Rutgers did not. Illinois won crunch time and their strong rebounding put them in position to win the game down the stretch. RU could have won this game but at this level, close gets you nowhere. Not sure if Pikiell could have done anything different this game. Its clear that the shots were not going and Myles was not focused this game. Without Geo there are just so many buttons that Pike can push. This team layed it all out defensively in another sterling efffort but the bugaboo of struggling with shooting once again bit them. Tough to win on the road when you have 3 guards getting just 11 points and your big man is a non factor. Illinois deserved the win. Tip your hat to them.
Some learning lessons today that you need 100% focus in league play. No one feels sorry for you and no one is going to hand anything to you. Something to be aware of for Indiana. RU can get beat by Indiana at the RAC. Things can change in a hurry. You can look like top 25 one day and 10th place the next. Its a big game because every game is a big game. You lose won battle and onto the next. This is what cannibalism looks like in league play. Only the strongest survive at the end but we will not know that until March. Be happy as fans that RU is in a position that shows that they have clearly taken the next step overall as a program. Its about winning the war in March, you may lose battles its how you bounce back from those losses that will determine if you still have a heartbeat in March
