1. Illinois is just scary good with Shannon. I’ve never seen a team get downhill with such ease than this team, and they hit their layups and shots at the rim with an envious frequency. Illinois was a WHOPPING 26-38 on 2-pt FGs, most of which were within 6 feet of the rim.
2. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Pike didn’t switch to a zone defense. We were helpless to stop their dribble drive penetration on nearly every offensive possession for Illinois, and Pike stubbornly stuck with a man defense. MIND BOGGLING.
3. Shoutout to Cliff for a really nice offensive game, at least for the first 30 minutes. After that, he had a bunch of his usual prayers toward the hoop that had no chance. But with 22 points on 10-19 shooting, he was our MVP today.
4. Illinois’ size and length is just a terrible matchup for our small guard rotation. Most of Illinois’ 13 offensive rebounds were a direct result of the size differential and our guys not looking to box out. We got killed on the boards again, this time 46-32.
5. Bad game for Mag today, with just 2 points (1-6) and 2 rebounds. I hope it’s just an off day and not the minutes piling up and wearing him and his surgically repaired knee down.
6. We cut the lead to 55-51 about midway through the second half after an 11-1 run. Raise your hand if you didn’t predict that Illinois would wake up and run us out of the building after the timeout. That’s exactly what they did, outscoring us 35-12 the rest of the way.
7. Gavin didn’t play at all in the second half (until garbage time). Pike knows that GG is not ready for this type of physical game and wouldn’t be able to guard Illinois’ big wings.
8. Illinois is a Final Four contender if Shannon retains eligibility. They have it all on offense, and their defense is elite with that ridiculous length at all five positions.
2. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Pike didn’t switch to a zone defense. We were helpless to stop their dribble drive penetration on nearly every offensive possession for Illinois, and Pike stubbornly stuck with a man defense. MIND BOGGLING.
3. Shoutout to Cliff for a really nice offensive game, at least for the first 30 minutes. After that, he had a bunch of his usual prayers toward the hoop that had no chance. But with 22 points on 10-19 shooting, he was our MVP today.
4. Illinois’ size and length is just a terrible matchup for our small guard rotation. Most of Illinois’ 13 offensive rebounds were a direct result of the size differential and our guys not looking to box out. We got killed on the boards again, this time 46-32.
5. Bad game for Mag today, with just 2 points (1-6) and 2 rebounds. I hope it’s just an off day and not the minutes piling up and wearing him and his surgically repaired knee down.
6. We cut the lead to 55-51 about midway through the second half after an 11-1 run. Raise your hand if you didn’t predict that Illinois would wake up and run us out of the building after the timeout. That’s exactly what they did, outscoring us 35-12 the rest of the way.
7. Gavin didn’t play at all in the second half (until garbage time). Pike knows that GG is not ready for this type of physical game and wouldn’t be able to guard Illinois’ big wings.
8. Illinois is a Final Four contender if Shannon retains eligibility. They have it all on offense, and their defense is elite with that ridiculous length at all five positions.