Illinois Basketball: 3 Observations From the Northern Kentucky Victory
Mar 6, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach John Groce looks on from the bench during the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
The Illinois basketball team moved to 2-0 on the season as they beat the Northern Kentucky Norse 79-64 on Sunday.
This game wasn’t the prettiest, but Illinois still managed to pull out a win on the back of Malcolm Hill’s 40 point performance.
Here are three observations from the victory over Northern Kentucky.
Illini Found a Way to Win
Listen, I know who the Illini played yesterday. This was a Northern Kentucky team that shouldn’t compete with a power five conference program.
Northern Kentucky is named the Norse and I am not even sure what or who that is. But, this game was close nonetheless.
Despite being down 33-31 at halftime, Illinois fought their way back and won the game 79-64. This doesn’t seem like an accomplishment but I look at it as a baby step in the right direction.
A win is a win and at the end of the season, it will help us get into the NCAA Tournament. You also have to think that these small programs probably look at this as their time to shine while the Illini see a cake walk game.
But, the most important thought I want to get across here is that the Illini found a way to win this game.
Last season, Illinois was losing at halftime in 17 games they played. In only 4 of those 17 games did they come back and win. So that means 76-percent of the time Illinois falls when trailing at halftime.
Just looking at that stat I think to myself, this could be a baby step in the right direction. This team is learning how to win if they get down at halftime.
Hopefully, in the future when they are down at halftime, this will help build their confidence that they can come back and win.
Mar 3, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) drives to the basket as Maryland Terrapins forward Robert Carter (4) defends during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
King of the Hill
Like previously mentioned, Illinois trailed the Northern Kentucky Norse at halftime 33-31.
All Illinois fans knew the team couldn’t lose this game or we were in for another long season, possibly. But, there was a lot of game left and a second half that would enable a star to shine.
In the first half, Malcolm Hill wasn’t doing a ton. He had 11 points and 6 rebounds, which is a solid start to the game. The rest of the team was kind of letting him down at that point, though.
The supporting cast for Hill had about the same mediocre production in the second half as they did in the first half, but Hill knew this wasn’t going to be enough to win this game.
Leaders step up when the team needs them the most and that is exactly what Hill did.
Hill took over this game in the second half. He showed us that he is a great player, a leader and possibly a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
In the second half alone, Hill dropped 29 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 11-of-17 from the field. That was an extremely efficient half of basketball and he put the Illinois basketball team on his back.
If Illinois can get this type of production from Hill night in and night out in addition to the supporting cast playing better, then this team could be special.
Mar 11, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Johnny Hill (1) is guarded by Illinois Fighting Illini guard Jaylon Tate (1) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Starting Lineup Confusion
The starting lineup yesterday against Northern Kentucky was not one that I want moving forward, but I am not the coach so I have to just settle on complaining about it.
John Groce put out a starting lineup of Michael Finke, Maverick Morgan, Tracy Abrams, Jaylon Tate and Malcolm Hill.
Now, Groce has reported that Mike Thorne Jr. isn’t 100-percent and I assume that is the reason he isn’t starting right now.
#illini Groce: Thorne isn’t totally back to 100 percent but he’s pretty close. Conditioning and timing are getting better.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWernerScout) November 14, 2016
The part that confuses me the most is why are we starting two point guards against the Norse?
Tray Abrams and Jaylon Tate should not be on the court at the same time.
I think it has been pretty clear over the past two seasons what we get when Tate is on the court. He is okay on defense and he can drive the ball sometimes, but overall he is a liability on the offensive end.
Tate played 28 minutes yesterday and was only 2-of-5 from the field with 4 fouls and 2 turnovers.
There are also reports that the reason Groce played two point guards is because he wanted to match up with smaller teams.
He’s played 45 minutes in two games. He’s a big part of team but shot’s not falling and Groce leaning on 2 PG lineups vs. small teams https://t.co/lSwa9pdqw2
— Jeremy Werner (@JWernerScout) November 14, 2016
This blows my mind because Illinois should be making other teams match up against us. I look at the Illini bench and every single one of them would have been a better fit in that spot than Tate.
Tate can come off the bench and supplement minutes, but there is a reason we have lost in the past and there is a reason we struggled mightily in this game.
Groce needs to start coaching to win and to make teams play to Illinois’ strengths. I feel like that is the only way the Illini can sustain a winning program.
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