Illinois Basketball loses rock fight vs Northwestern

Illinois basketball lost a rockfight of a Big Ten game vs in-state rival, Northwestern 66-70. As always, the trips to Evanston are tightly battled and extremely coarse games. The Illini fell short as the Wildcats’ physicality seemed to fluster them down the stretch. Kasparas Jakucionis made some big-time shots, however, there was too much on the plate for the young freshman guard. Illinois will have to forget this one quickly as they host a top-25 opponent twice next week. On Tuesday, they host the Wisconsin Badgers for a home Big Ten game. On December 14th, the Illini will host the current number-one ranked team in the country, the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Illini let this game slip away. They are clearly the more talented squad, however, Northwestern is a well-coached Veteran team that played as if wanted to rebound from a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss vs Iowa.

The Illini need more from their Veterans

Ben Humrichous played 38 minutes and was 1-9 from the three-point line. He is certainly adjusting to a new role on Offense as he is strictly being used as a catch-and-shoot guy. With shots not going down, however, Humrichous made zero impact in every other aspect of the game. He had some nice vertical contests, however, Northwestern attacked him on every defensive possession. Over the last four games, Humrichous is 7-25 (28%) from the three-point line. That just simply will not get it done.

Tre White also seems to be falling out of favor for Morez Johnson and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has lost that aggressive mentality on offense in his limited minutes. In a tough road environment, losing a game is no reason for panic, but this loss revealed some glaring issues that need addressing. Teams will certainly continue to hunt Ben Humrichous on the defensive end. Illinois also needs a reliable number-two option and creator besides Kasparas Jakucionis.

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