Illini Pull Away Late to Beat Huskers, 72-56

By Jeff Mayfield

[April 04, 2023] 

The Illinois Fighting Illini were fortunate in more ways than one Tuesday night and pulled away late leading to a 72-56 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. We probably have too high of an expectation of the way we want the Illini to play. We also are not privy to any late or traffic difficulties, who’s sick or got an injury in practice, etc. But this team looked like they were running through mud for most of this contest perhaps not fully recovered from the big road victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.

Not having fresh legs ted to poor 3-point shooting, 5-for-29, good for-are you ready for this?- 17.2%! You can’t make this stuff up. We know the spacing you get shooting from the perimeter opens up lanes to the basket but would love to see the hoop attacked more and some mid-range offense. Illinois did out-rebound the Huskers 36-29 including 9-3 on the offensive glass. The Illini also only committed 13 turnovers while forcing Nebraska to cough up 19 miscues. The Illini also needed another fine game from the FT line going 17-of-22 for 77%.

And even though Illinois seemed to be dragging a bit, they still played decent defense especially at critical times when the game hung in the balance. We loved the overall hustle the last 8 minutes or so of the ball game.

3 Stars

#1
The Illini Freshmen
Ty Rodgers, Jayden Epps, & Sencire Harris

We are so proud of these Freshmen. Since they have stepped up [and props to Sencire Harris for his contributions as well tonight], they are giving Illinois a nightly chance to win, not just compete. Ty Rodgers has gotten more confident with more playing time. He had 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals in 19 minutes of action. His toughness, his grit, and his intensive fire spurred our team during the times we really needed him.

Epps produced 12 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. He runs the offense, takes the ball hard to the rim, and goes all out on the defensive end.

Harris had 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals & all that in just 14 minutes of action. Talk about efficiency & productivity!

It is so nice to be able to depend on true Freshmen. We would say that Illinois would be pretty mediocre without this year’s crop of newcomers.

#2
Coleman Hawkins

He still makes us nervous from time to time, but you can’t sneeze at his results. Hawkins turned in 10 points including a sparkling 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. In a game like this where the Illini needed people to step up-Coleman did!

#3
Matthew Mayer/Terrance Shannon, Jr.

Where would this team be without our transfer portal guys [Mayer, Shannon, Jr. and Dain Dainja]? Nowhere, that’s where! Instead we have a solid chance at being a top four team in our league once again so that we can get the delicious double bye!

Mayer continued his solid play of late by leading all Illini scorers with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks=it’s amazing how many blocks he gets!

On the other hand, several around us refer to Shannon, Jr. as the Bullet-the way he jets around or goes right through people to get to the rack! He tossed in 13 points, had 5 beautiful dimes, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals. We should probably have both of these higher on the star chart tonight, but their stellar play has elevated our expectations!

This team is an enigma. At times we can beat anybody in the country. At other times we could lose to anybody in the country. Hopefully, that means this team will bring great effort, intense defense, an all-out hustle the rest of the season.

With the victory Tuesday night, Illinois’ record is now 16-6, 7-4. The Illini will travel to Iowa for 1:30 p.m. tip on Saturday.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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