PHOTO: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Despite drawing the short end of a 86-79 loss too the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, Brad Underwoods Fighting Illini currently find themselves up four spots in the AP top 25, all the way up to #16.
To round out an extremely tough early schedule, Illinois battled their way into a wild weekend following a big win vs Rutgers, and still had #11 FAU and#17 Tennessee ahead.
The Illini took down then #11th ranked Florida Atlantic University, and finished out an impressive 98-89 win, at Madison Square Garden (NYC). Terrance Shannon Jr. and SIU Transfer Marcus Domask combined for 66 on the night, 33 apiece, and were absolute nightmare fuel to the Owls of FAU. A dominant performance, that was a thing of beauty.
SIU Transfer Marcus Domask went 15-21 on the night vs FAU, scoring a career high 33 points and was truly the star of the show in New York. What a big time find by Brad Underwood and this staff. I do not think many (outside of Southern, IL) anticipated Domask to step up this early, and create this level of production vs really talented, top 25 tams.
On the flip side, then on to Tennessee where Marcus went 2-11 from the floor with 6 points. It happens, especially after giving your all to such a dominant performance at Madison Square Garden, but man did Illinois need a shooter in this game. 3-point shooting consistency is going to be key to Domask continuing a high level of play moving forward, as Marcus saw no buckets go down from behind the arc, on 5 attempts on the afternoon.
The Tennessee loss could be tabbed up to many factors for this Illini team. Poor shooting in the 2nd half, following some highly questionable calls, (33 called in the 2nd half) allowed a great team like Tennessee to make runs, and unfortunately, the Illini couldn’t handle the heat. The type of ugly second half that can happen when you come to the exhausting end of a really tough early season stretch. Fouls, whether good calls or not, were a major issue for Illinois, and really slowed down the scoring rhythm Illinois had been on since the beginning of the Rutgers game in Piscataway. So far, this Illini team has not shown an immense fouling issue, but certainly one does not need to start…
Winning small battles like fouls, are big factors to winning big time games in February and March, and the Illini need to tighten that up as they ease into a break stretch, with a lighter opponent in Colgate.
One really nice takeaway from this game, and about the only highlight offensively, is that Quincy Guerrier found himself as teams leading scorer with 22. Quincy shot 7-14 from the field, and did about everything he could to keep this game close for his cold shooting teammates the 2nd half. Quincy continuing to score at a high level, along with Domask, will be a major key to the success of this team moving forward. The stars will have off days, but more often than not, you can rely on the heavy hitters on this team. If all can click at the same time, this team will continue to have big wins vs the likes of FAU. The stars and the transfers will need to progressively continue to gel, and as they do, great things can happen for this Illini team as we have seen.
Here is the bigger picture. You beat a final 4 team that returns almost the entire squad from 2022-23, and scored 98 points in the process. A smooth game where once again, you dominated on the defensive end of the floor, your stars went to work, and the team overall shot at a high level. You took a tough loss to the Volunteers, but you certainly looked like you belonged on the same court, despite a less than standard second half. A really fun game, with some great runs, that certainly flashed more potential for this Illinois team as they drive forward into the rest of this schedule.
The Illini need to take full advantage of the mini breather they are given until the 22nd, when the Illini have to face Mizzou in St. Louis. Illinois face their next, and only opponent between then and now in Colgate University on Sunday. A great way to clean up the messes from ol’ Rocky Top, and move forward to a big “Braggin Rights” game vs the Tigers.
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