The Illini recently dropped a close game to Penn St. 54-52. Speaking of Penn State, let us all have a quick moment of silence for former football coach Joe Paterno who passed this morning at the ripe, young age of 85.
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Back to basketball. After losing a close game to the Nittany Lions the Illini could use a good win.
1st half
The Illini began the game with yet another streak of poor shooting. Not everybody began the game rough, as Joseph Bertrand was on fire again. The 6'5" sophomore used his perfected floater in the lane to jump out and score 12 points on 5/7 shooting to add with 5 rebounds.
To make up for the poor shooting, the Illini played great defense. They made the Badgers work until the end of the shot clock for what seemed for over half of the possessions. They held star guard Jordan Taylor in-check. The Badgers average about 9 turnovers a game, the fewest in the entire NCAA. In the first-half alone, they had 8. Unfortunately, the Illini did not take advantage.
It was still a weak showing for Meyers Leonard. He outsized the weaker and smaller Wisconsin big men, but Meyers insists on playing smaller than he is. He continues to drift out to the three point line. He sets screens out there, which is what he is supposed to do, but he doesn't roll off of them. He turns and looks for a mid-range shot.
There needed to be better shot selection on the offensive side of the ball. There was an instance in the first half with 27 seconds left on the shot clock. Brandon Paul decided it would be a good time to chuck up a three. It has been an issue all season.
So-called Illini "stars" Meyers Leonard and Brandon Paul combined for a whole 4 points in the first half.
The game was tied at 26 at half.
2nd half
There was a point early in the second-half where Joseph Bertrand was 6/8 from the field. The rest of the Illini were 5/22.
Leonard continued to try and be a passer instead of a scorer. I do not know about you, but I don't know many 7'1" point guards.
I did see a few moments of greatness. With about 15 minutes left in the game, Meyers Leonard came to set a screen for Joseph Bertrand. Bertrand dribbled off the screen and Meyers rolled to the basket. Executed perfectly, Bertrand tossed a pass to Meyers for the easy lay-in. It is that simple. A plain pick-and-roll can generate easy points for the Illini, but Meyers does not roll out of the screen like he should.
Not too much later true freshman guard Tracy Abrams out of Mount Caramel lobbed a great pass to Leonard for the HUGE and-one alley-oop dunk. It brought the crowd to their feet and put the Illini up 46-43.
That's when Meyers hit a spark and scored 7 straight for the Illini. He was hot and hungry for the ball. He even hit a smooth mid-range jump shot. Unfortunately, as the Illini tend to do, Meyers stopped getting the ball. They quit giving him the ball and Wisconsin took advantage. They put up 7 quick points and put the game near out of reach.
After holding guard Jordan Taylor to less than 10 points for most of the game, Taylor scored 7 points in the final 36 seconds.
The Illini lost 67-63. They showed moments of strength and moments of weakness throughout the game. They tend to play to the level of their competition, although.
The Badgers rose to 16-5, 5-3 in the Big Ten as the Illini dropped to 15-5, 4-3 in the Big Ten.
The Illini square off against Minnesota next Saturday. A seemingly must-win for the Illini.
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