Illini Take Home Opener

By Jeff Mayfield

[January 08, 2015]  Compensate is defined by Webster’s dictionary as
to provide something good as a balance against something bad or undesirable : to make up for some defect or weakness
And overcompensation is defined as
excessive reaction to a feeling of inferiority, guilt, or inadequacy leading to an exaggerated attempt to overcome the feeling
Now, I’m not an English major (could you tell?), but the Illini Fighting Illini had to find a way to do one or both of those attributes Wednesday night before a surprisingly large crowd at the State Farm Center

...and that's exactly what the Illini did in their win over Maryland, 64-57. With the victory Illini averted an 0-3 start in Big Ten play. Going into the game there was not much hope.

Illini had gotten blasted at Ohio State the last time out and then Monday in practice they lost their leading scorer Rayvonte Rice to a broken hand. Things had gone from bad to worse and longtime fans were saying woe is us.

In fact, on the way to the game in front of our friends my son, Payne asked me if Illini had any change going into this game. I mean why not put the sports reporter in the car on the hot seat before the proceedings even begin, right? I relied on my vast years of experience and simply said, “Not in a hundred years!” After all, Maryland came into the contest ranked 11th in the country. Illini was fresh off a heartbreaking loss at Michigan and a meltdown at Ohio State where the Illini had committed something like 20 turnovers. In addition to that, I had watched them closely the last two years and had seen absolutely no evidence that this team had a performance like that in them-not because they weren’t capable, I just hadn’t seen the execution for a full 40 minutes. So, I retorted to a van load of guys, “It will take a herculean effort…and I just don’t even know if that is possible.”

But there were several things nobody knew. Nobody knew that Malcolm Hill was ready to do his best Michael Jordon impression-how ‘bout a career high 28 points and 7 rebounds? Nobody knew that Nnanna Egwu was ready to do his best Dikembe Matombo impression-11 points 9 rebounds and 4 vicious blocked shots! And nobody knew (except for the LDN’s own Greg Taylor who has been calling for this for quite some time) that Jaylon Tate would start and play like a seasoned, saavy veteran-good for 10 points including a sparkling 6 for 6 at the line during crunch time, and just an overall great floor game on the night. And nobody knew that idiots like me and my homies would stupidly brave the elements to take in this spectacle. Man, were we rewarded!
 Neither team shot well as they both combined for 36% shooting from the floor, but Illini made 2 more threes and 7 more free throws shooting an impressive 85% from the line. Incredibly, the Illini outrebounded the Terps 36-33 and only committed 7 turnovers to 10 for Maryland. The Terrapins did outscore the Illini in the paint 18-8, but Illini returned the favor besting their new league foes 10-5 in points off turnovers!
 
 Make no mistake, the Illini still have a ton of work to do and they need to figure out how to finish on the road but they've at least given themselves a chance to salvage their season instead of flushing it. With Rice out they will have to continue to fight and to compensate and overcompensate-whatever the situation dictates. All I can tell you is, I feel a little bit better today about this team then I did at the end of the weekend and so maybe there’s a chance that good things will happen in the upcoming games.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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