By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The 'Cats, through the forced march that is a Big Ten season, have regularly found a way. They did that in their conference opener at Penn State and then, after dropping a pair to Michigan State and Minnesota, they did it again by traveling to Lincoln and toppling a Nebraska team that was undefeated in league play. They did it, most impressively, at Ohio State and at home against Indiana during the winning streak they then authored, and that is why the Tuesday night sightings at Welsh-Ryan were so alien and unexpected.
For here, in their home against their in-state rival off a tough loss at Purdue, they did not find a way. They instead wilted in the final three minutes and fell to Illinois by seven. "Just a tough loss," Chris Collins later said, and then he succinctly summarized this affair.
"Our guys played really hard. They battled and competed," he said here. "We just weren't able to finish the deal. Credit Illinois."
••••••••••
The Illini arrived for this one winless in league road games and after having lost at Maryland by 25, and at Indiana by 16, and at Purdue by 23, and at Michigan by nine, and at Penn State by four. But here the 'Cats were again without the 6-foot-5 Scottie Lindsey, their leading scorer, and the impact of his absence cannot be over-emphasized. It, for one, pushed the 6-foot-2 freshman Isiah Brown into the starting lineup, and that effectively shortened their bench to forwards Gavin Skelly and a still-gimpy Nate Taphorn (he had tweaked an ankle a week earlier against Indiana). It also, not insignificantly, robbed the 'Cat defense of Lindsey's length and savvy, losses as crucial as his missing points.
Still, at the start, that seemed not to matter as the 'Cats ran off to a 10-4 lead, but now this game morphed into a matter of runs and droughts, of feast and famine, of prosperity and destitution. So here, over the next five minutes, the Illini unfurled a 15-0 run to go up 19-10. And then, over the next five, the 'Cats responded with a 9-2 run to pull within two. And finally, when this half finally ended, this pair was tied at 28. "I felt like it's a long game," Collins would say when asked his mindset during Ilinois' big burst.
"It wasn't going well. We called a timeout there and just tried to regain our poise. We just kept saying, 'Relax.' It's a long game. We really said, 'Let's try to get it tied or get the lead by halftime.' So I actually felt good going into the half when it was tied up. Did I feel we played our best? No. But the game was right there to be had."
Bryant McIntosh, their point, had struggled through these 20 minutes, going just three-of-11 from the field. But Vic Law had been a dervish, scoring eight points and collecting seven rebounds, and Skelly had contributed six points and five rebounds and countless hustle plays. Still. The Illini's bench had outscored the 'Cats', 14-6, and the Illini had dropped 40 percent of their three-point attempts (four of 10) against a 'Cat defense that led the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (31.6).
Now all these trends continued as the second half wound down, the 'Cats up four with 16 minutes remaining, the Illini up six with 9:40 remaining, the teams tied at 56 as they gathered during the under-four timeout. The Illini bench would outscore the 'Cats', 30-13. The Illini bigs would frolic in the paint, where they put up 24 points to the 'Cats' 12. The Illini would shoot 45.3 percent overall (24-53) and 42.1 on their threes (8-19) while the 'Cats went just 33.9 percent overall (19-56) and 30 percent on their threes (6-20).
But still, during this timeout, the game was yet there for the 'Cats to take. All they had to do was find a way.
••••••••••
Law, when play resumed, inbounded to Sanjay Lumpkin, who quickly kicked the ball to McIntosh. The point had been brilliant in this second half, hitting five of the eight shots he had taken in its first 16 minutes. But here he delivered a cross-court pass along the baseline to Law, who in the second half had gone a mere one-of-six. Still, deep in the right corner, he did not hesitate. He instead went up and, as cool as an assassin, dropped a three that put the 'Cats up three at 3:31.
With that Welsh-Ryan erupted, and the din only increased when they got the ball back 21 seconds later after a turnover by Illini center Maverick Morgan. Here, right here, was a chance for them to widen their lead and to sow all kinds of doubt into the Illini's collective brainpan, and it looked as if they would do just that as Law popped free for an open three off a screen by Skelly. But, before he could even release his shot, the whistle blew and Skelly was called for an illegal screen and now the 'Cats' meltdown began.
McIntosh would slip and lose both his footing and the ball on their next possession and then, after hitting a pair of foul shots that tied this one up at 61, the Illini would score and he would turn it over again under pressure from a double team. That would lead to another Illini basket that put them up four and now McIntosh missed a baseline jumper and Skelly grabbed an offensive rebound and Law missed a three.
No need to go further with this play-by-play, but here are the relevant numbers. After taking that three-point lead at 3:31, the 'Cats went 0-for-four from the field and committed five turnovers and managed just those two foul shots from McIntosh. "Probably so, yeah," Collins would later say when asked if he thought his point was trying too hard in the absence of Lindsey. "There's a lot on him now. When you take 16 points out of your lineup, there's going to be more on those guys."
That reality will remain there still as the 'Cats, so suddenly saddled with a two-game losing streak, move on to games at No. 7 Wisconsin (Sunday) and at home next Wednesday against No. 21 Maryland. So, Collins was finally asked, how do you keep that downhill slide from snowballing?
"I think the guys were good in the locker room. We've got a good bunch in the locker room," he finally said. "They're down, obviously. They put a lot into this game and wanted to win, to get back on that winning track. It didn't happen. But they're saying the right things. We've got to keep playing. We also started one-and-two in league, and at that point we're going to Nebraska, and Nebraska had just won at Maryland and at Indiana, and we found a way to go on the road and get a win.
"In this league it's crazy. Everyone is good. So if you don't play well, you can lose to anyone. There's a million examples of that already this year. We feel we can compete. We've got to get healthy — I just think we've got to play smarter. I thought we played really hard. I thought our effort was great. We did a lot of good things defensively. I just thought offensively tonight, we had some costly turnovers, some bad shots, and when you're down a guy who can score like Scottie can, you're margin for error is much slimmer.
"So you've got to play smarter. That's what we've got to try and iron out."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The 'Cats, through the forced march that is a Big Ten season, have regularly found a way. They did that in their conference opener at Penn State and then, after dropping a pair to Michigan State and Minnesota, they did it again by traveling to Lincoln and toppling a Nebraska team that was undefeated in league play. They did it, most impressively, at Ohio State and at home against Indiana during the winning streak they then authored, and that is why the Tuesday night sightings at Welsh-Ryan were so alien and unexpected.
For here, in their home against their in-state rival off a tough loss at Purdue, they did not find a way. They instead wilted in the final three minutes and fell to Illinois by seven. "Just a tough loss," Chris Collins later said, and then he succinctly summarized this affair.
"Our guys played really hard. They battled and competed," he said here. "We just weren't able to finish the deal. Credit Illinois."
••••••••••
The Illini arrived for this one winless in league road games and after having lost at Maryland by 25, and at Indiana by 16, and at Purdue by 23, and at Michigan by nine, and at Penn State by four. But here the 'Cats were again without the 6-foot-5 Scottie Lindsey, their leading scorer, and the impact of his absence cannot be over-emphasized. It, for one, pushed the 6-foot-2 freshman Isiah Brown into the starting lineup, and that effectively shortened their bench to forwards Gavin Skelly and a still-gimpy Nate Taphorn (he had tweaked an ankle a week earlier against Indiana). It also, not insignificantly, robbed the 'Cat defense of Lindsey's length and savvy, losses as crucial as his missing points.
Still, at the start, that seemed not to matter as the 'Cats ran off to a 10-4 lead, but now this game morphed into a matter of runs and droughts, of feast and famine, of prosperity and destitution. So here, over the next five minutes, the Illini unfurled a 15-0 run to go up 19-10. And then, over the next five, the 'Cats responded with a 9-2 run to pull within two. And finally, when this half finally ended, this pair was tied at 28. "I felt like it's a long game," Collins would say when asked his mindset during Ilinois' big burst.
"It wasn't going well. We called a timeout there and just tried to regain our poise. We just kept saying, 'Relax.' It's a long game. We really said, 'Let's try to get it tied or get the lead by halftime.' So I actually felt good going into the half when it was tied up. Did I feel we played our best? No. But the game was right there to be had."
Bryant McIntosh, their point, had struggled through these 20 minutes, going just three-of-11 from the field. But Vic Law had been a dervish, scoring eight points and collecting seven rebounds, and Skelly had contributed six points and five rebounds and countless hustle plays. Still. The Illini's bench had outscored the 'Cats', 14-6, and the Illini had dropped 40 percent of their three-point attempts (four of 10) against a 'Cat defense that led the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (31.6).
Now all these trends continued as the second half wound down, the 'Cats up four with 16 minutes remaining, the Illini up six with 9:40 remaining, the teams tied at 56 as they gathered during the under-four timeout. The Illini bench would outscore the 'Cats', 30-13. The Illini bigs would frolic in the paint, where they put up 24 points to the 'Cats' 12. The Illini would shoot 45.3 percent overall (24-53) and 42.1 on their threes (8-19) while the 'Cats went just 33.9 percent overall (19-56) and 30 percent on their threes (6-20).
But still, during this timeout, the game was yet there for the 'Cats to take. All they had to do was find a way.
••••••••••
Law, when play resumed, inbounded to Sanjay Lumpkin, who quickly kicked the ball to McIntosh. The point had been brilliant in this second half, hitting five of the eight shots he had taken in its first 16 minutes. But here he delivered a cross-court pass along the baseline to Law, who in the second half had gone a mere one-of-six. Still, deep in the right corner, he did not hesitate. He instead went up and, as cool as an assassin, dropped a three that put the 'Cats up three at 3:31.
With that Welsh-Ryan erupted, and the din only increased when they got the ball back 21 seconds later after a turnover by Illini center Maverick Morgan. Here, right here, was a chance for them to widen their lead and to sow all kinds of doubt into the Illini's collective brainpan, and it looked as if they would do just that as Law popped free for an open three off a screen by Skelly. But, before he could even release his shot, the whistle blew and Skelly was called for an illegal screen and now the 'Cats' meltdown began.
McIntosh would slip and lose both his footing and the ball on their next possession and then, after hitting a pair of foul shots that tied this one up at 61, the Illini would score and he would turn it over again under pressure from a double team. That would lead to another Illini basket that put them up four and now McIntosh missed a baseline jumper and Skelly grabbed an offensive rebound and Law missed a three.
No need to go further with this play-by-play, but here are the relevant numbers. After taking that three-point lead at 3:31, the 'Cats went 0-for-four from the field and committed five turnovers and managed just those two foul shots from McIntosh. "Probably so, yeah," Collins would later say when asked if he thought his point was trying too hard in the absence of Lindsey. "There's a lot on him now. When you take 16 points out of your lineup, there's going to be more on those guys."
That reality will remain there still as the 'Cats, so suddenly saddled with a two-game losing streak, move on to games at No. 7 Wisconsin (Sunday) and at home next Wednesday against No. 21 Maryland. So, Collins was finally asked, how do you keep that downhill slide from snowballing?
"I think the guys were good in the locker room. We've got a good bunch in the locker room," he finally said. "They're down, obviously. They put a lot into this game and wanted to win, to get back on that winning track. It didn't happen. But they're saying the right things. We've got to keep playing. We also started one-and-two in league, and at that point we're going to Nebraska, and Nebraska had just won at Maryland and at Indiana, and we found a way to go on the road and get a win.
"In this league it's crazy. Everyone is good. So if you don't play well, you can lose to anyone. There's a million examples of that already this year. We feel we can compete. We've got to get healthy — I just think we've got to play smarter. I thought we played really hard. I thought our effort was great. We did a lot of good things defensively. I just thought offensively tonight, we had some costly turnovers, some bad shots, and when you're down a guy who can score like Scottie can, you're margin for error is much slimmer.
"So you've got to play smarter. That's what we've got to try and iron out."