By: Grant Labedz
The Illini lost what was a hard fought battle with the 7th ranked Villanova Wildcats at MSG on Tuesday. The game was part of the Jimmy V Classic in support of the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. Though the final score may signify that the game was all Nova, it was pretty close for the majority of the second half until the Wildcats finally pulled away for good.
The Illini were hot to start the game taking a 9-8 lead after the first media timeout. At that point, Malcolm Hill had connected on 3 of his 4 shots for 7 points, and it looked like the Illini had a chance to make something happen. Villanova then went on a 13-2 run to take a 10 point lead before the Illini crawled right back into it cutting the Villanova lead down to 6 at the half.
The Illini responded nicely at the start of the second half. A transition three point bucket by Ahmad Starks tied the game at 38, but Villanova responded with a mini 8-0 run to pull further away. Though a 3 point shot by Cosby, his only one on the night, would tie the game back up at 50 later in the contest, Villanova pulled right away once again and finished the last 8 and a half minutes on a 23-9 run that would put the Illini away for good.
The Ups:
The Illini were able to hang with a very tough Villanova team that has a bright season ahead of them. We could see the Wildcats in the Final Four this year with the way they play on both ends of the floor. The Illini were tough enough to stick with them and fight back into the game when it seemed as if Villanova would pull away for good early.
Malcolm Hill definitely made his presence felt on the floor with 20 points, 14 of which coming in the first half. He was aggressive and fierce on both ends of floor and connected on 8 of his 16 field goal attempts. Kendrick Nunn also proved to be an effective player on the night. He shot 4/7 from the field for 9 points and filled in for a struggling Aaron Cosby who hit on just 1 out of 8 of his field goal attempts. I would not be surprised to see Nunn in the starting lineup on Saturday against the Ducks. Egwu had a strong showing in the second half to finish with 9 boards.
The Illini shot 41% from the field: an improvement from their last two games against one of the best defensive teams in the nation. Illinois actually managed to force more turnovers (16) than they gave up (14). Despite being out-rebounded offensively in the first half 9-2, the Illini pulled in 10 second half offensive boards.
Downs:
The Illinois defense once again looked shaken by a quicker and longer opponent in Villanova. The Wildcats shot 54% on the game and out-rebounded the Illini 32-27. They got to the line more often than Illinois and converted on 78.6% of their free throws. The Illini hit just 4 of 8 from the line.
Certainly an area of concern for the Illini moving forward is depth in the front court. Daniel Ochefu had his way with Egwu and Morgan all night, and even though Egwu wasn’t in foul trouble, he still was not able to stop the inside game of the Wildcats. It seemed as if the entire second half the Illini could not get a stop and the Wildcats would score every single time down the floor. Once they scored, they had time to get into their defensive set that seriously disrupted the rhythm of the Illini offense. Dylan Ennis scored 18 points for Villanova.
Moving Forward:
The Illini will finish the non-conference schedule with games against Oregon, Hampton, Missouri, and Kennesaw State. All four of these are must win games that will get the Illini back on the radar heading into conference play. The loss against Villanova was certainly not unexpected tonight, but once again, this team is improving and still has some weaknesses that Groce will work to fix. I still think this is a tournament team as long as they win the games that they are supposed to win. The Illini face Oregon at the United Center this Saturday.
I-L-L
TNT Player of the Game: Malcolm Hill, 20 points, 5 rebounds
The Groce Report 