Game Thread: Illinois at UCLA

[CDRUSN]

Mirk knows his back to back mental errors gave UCLA hope as the half ended. I think he uses that as motivation to get his head back in this game and give us a much better second half performance.

 

[SuperMetroid]

Worst stretch of defense we’ve had in a while. Hopefully just a lack of focus after seeing Keaton go down. Still baffled why no timeout called

 

[Coop70]

So apparently I'm unable to comprehend the whole time zone thing, so here I am bowl of white chili steaming, cold pop in hand looking forward to tip off. What did I miss?

 

[fatboyslim]

We just refuse to kill teams when we are pummeling them, let them feel life, and it ALWAYS bites us in the a$$. Now in a F'ing dog fight.

 

[HailtotheChief]

We didnt get to the line enough cosidering we were in the bonus pretty early. I love to see Keaton, Boz and Andre attack the hoop more once we are in the bonus. Jake and Mirk are 1 of 7 from three but i still trust them taking good looks. Today Jakes havent been from the corner like they typically are.

 

[BoiseBaller]

3pts, 4ast, 4reb. Awful sequence… definitely not awful in totality.

Missed a bunch of shots. Bad decisions on passes. Got beat like a drum on defense.

 

[Miles Leonard]

Look. It is what it is. Yes we need to play a helluva lot better on the defensive end. However, UCLA is a desperate team and weren't gonna take this lying down on their home court after suffering through 2 embarrassing losses.

We're up 7 at half. Let's reset and take back control of the game.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

We finished that half with 9 OFF Rebs to their 6 DEF Rebs.

We just can’t turn the ball over. Even if we miss (which isn’t happening much), you’re getting a chance to offensive rebound.

 

[Flyin' Illini]

We just refuse to kill teams when we are pummeling them

After we just pummelled USC for a full game a few nights ago...

 

[HailtotheChief]

I was hoping to get the last shot and the first if the second half. That really sucks how Mirk screwed that up.

Win the first 4 minutes and get that double digit lead back.

 

[Julie Meinart]

I'm sad. We were dominating. But, we have to leave something in the tank for Michigan. Because they just lost to Duke. So we don't have to be UCLA by 30 we just have to beat them.

 

[Doogie94]

Approx 1.56 points per possession.

Wow.

 

[Illiniguy13]

We just refuse to kill teams when we are pummeling them, let them feel life, and it ALWAYS bites us in the a$$. Now in a F'ing dog fight.

huh

 

[grantlab]

We just refuse to kill teams when we are pummeling them, let them feel life, and it ALWAYS bites us in the a$$. Now in a F'ing dog fight.

Right, just like the USC game we just won by 36. Deep breaths everyone.

 

[RedGrangeHelmet]

Hopefully we win but this kind of Game is a stubborn Brad Underwood NCAA second round lost kind of Game . This game is starting to look like the Nebraska at home game and the Wisconsin game. Both games Illinois should have won . Hey MeatHead Brad Underwood start taking advantage of your size . Get Z And Tomi on the court at the same damn time and punish UCLA down low in the Paint. Brad is so FRUSTRATING. Cut the 5 man out stuff and take advantage of YOUR SIZE. My Goodness Man . You got two 7 ft players

 

[Doogie94]

A little nuance: whoever rolled the ball in after UCLA made basket with 40 seconds needed to roll it slower. Then we could have run out the clock.

 

[Orangetool]

Team that plays hardest for the first 5 minutes wins this game.

 

[Bigtex]

I'm not so sure. Our defense couldn't stop the bleeding.

UCLA made 14 of last 15 shots

 

[Get yourself a new map]

From 33-10 to 50-43 at half. I still think IL is in good shape. I don’t think UCLA has enough offense to keep up.

That was just about a perfect offensive half:

10-19 on 3s
And 9-3 on the offensive glass

Yeah but you need to be up by more than 7. Same thing against Wisconsin - fantastic shooting but you’re only up 6 at the half is a bad bad omen.

 

[Miles Leonard]

We just refuse to kill teams when we are pummeling them, let them feel life, and it ALWAYS bites us in the a$$. Now in a F'ing dog fight.

Not even close to true.

 

[fishbed]

Flagrant 1.

Bilodeau has now earned a spot on the B1G first team all-dirty. With Jamerson, that's 2 Bruins on the first team. Way to go Mick..............

 

[Chase321]

We just refuse to kill teams when we are pummeling them, let them feel life, and it ALWAYS bites us in the a$$. Now in a F'ing dog fight.

We just did the last game.

 

[Iamgroot]

I think it is quite possible that defensive strategy and execution will be discussed in the Illini halftime locker room.

What was the defensive strategy give them a open 3 or if they dont want it give them a open lay up?

 

[zentrails]

We go up by 23 and then take our foot off the gas defensively. I hope there’s some scared trash cans at halftime

Not really they were getting good looks but missed 11 in a row, then they hit a bunch in a row, also good looks
We need much better D than this in the second half if we want to win, obviously

 

[steveinspringfield]

UCLA lost their last two games by 20+. They should be losing this one by 30+. Maybe they still will, but I'm just hoping for an Illini win at this point. Not sure where the defense went.