Glad to see these guys fight so hard. It really was about effort and execution. If I told you an Illini opponent was going to:
* Shoot almost 40% (38.6%) from 3 on 26 attempts
* Shoot 7 more FT's than us.
* Shoot the exact same FG% from the floor as us
* Only have 9 TO's
* Have our tallest/most senior player out with a concussion
You'd think we would get crushed based on what we've seen so far this year. But where we did really well:
* Shooting 43% from 3 (yes, we need MORE reliable shooters)
* Only gave up 5 (yes, only FIVE!) offense rebounds to Nebraska!
* Shot almost 82% from the line (although on only 11 attempts)
* Kept fouls reasonably even (19 for us, 15 for them)
* Not that we get to influence it in any way (fans?)...they shot 56% from the line.
Then throw on the non-boxscore stuff:
* Better side-to-side ball movement & cuts (including 3 ally-oop layups/dunks)
* Overall better defense
* Some scrap/fight in the guys (the previously discussed scrum)
* Leron Black being THE MAN
* Not having a 10+ minute scoring drought (so sad this is a positive)
Obviously we CAN do better, its really a matter of consistency. That's where the youth really hurts us.
Because I like beating a dead horse...We need some really big/athletic wings. Not only do we need them just to compete in the B10 next year (LB and GE won't be enough), but after next year LB is gone...then where are we?