Illini learn lessons in loss to No. 2 Baylor
While the scoreboard showed Illinois came away with an 82-69 loss to Baylor on Wednesday at the Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis, in many ways it was a win-win scenario.
Playing the No. 2 team in the country can only help the Illini prepare for a Big Ten schedule that currently has four of the top eight teams in the AP Top 25. And after not making the NCAA tournament since 2013, it gets No. 5 Illinois back in the national spotlight that was the norm for long stretches from 1980 to 2010.
It also shines a spotlight on what needs to improve. For Illinois, that came in a game-turning stretch midway through the second half of what had been a 43-43 dogfight of a game with 13 minutes remaining.
After outrebounding Baylor by seven in the first half, the Bears beat Illinois to several loose balls that led to wide-open, second-chance 3-pointers in the second half. The Bears outscored Illinois 24-7 on second-chance points.
On a cold-shooting night that saw their three leading scorers struggle, the Illini had to be better doing the little things. Ayo Dosunmu hit just 6 of 18 shots, Adam Miller 2 of 11 and Kofi Cockburn played 18 minutes because of foul trouble.
"You aren't going to beat this caliber of teams losing 50-50 battles," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "It's all about being able to win when you don't shoot the ball well. You have to figure out how to beat really good teams when the ball doesn't go in."
Illinois (3-1) also has to defend the pick and roll better. It nearly led to an upset loss to Ohio in their third game, and Baylor picked the Illini apart in the second half when they put the 7-foot Cockburn and backup Giorgi Bezhanishvili in the pick and roll.
"We've got to get better at it," Underwood said. "It's two ways, it's not just the bigs, it's the guards have to handle that, not get screened."
Wednesday certainly wasn't all negative, not close against a Baylor team that returned four All-Big 12 players from a team that spent five weeks ranked No. 1 last year.
In particular, Bezhanishvili provided a spark with Cockburn in foul trouble, and freshmen Andre Curbelo and Coleman Hawkins showed the moment wasn't too big for them. It will be interesting to see if Curbelo starts taking some of senior Trent Frazier's minutes.
Curbelo, a 6-foot-1 point guard who has missed practice with a concussion and ankle injury, sliced through Baylor's defense better than any other Illini and finished with 11 points and 4 assists in 16 minutes. The 6-10 Hawkins only played 5 minutes but grabbed 3 rebounds and blocked a shot and could provide some much needed help at the four, where senior Da'Monte Williams continued to battle with a team-high 7 rebounds but as a 6-3 guard is overpowered at times.
"I did find out I love our freshmen," Underwood said. "Really proud of Andre Curbelo and I thought Coleman Hawkins was terrific. I saw some grit in him.
"He's (Curbelo) elite now, he's really good. I'm so encouraged by that. We see it in practice when he's been healthy. It's been scary. I'm excited about that for the future because he's really difficult to handle with ball screens. One defender has a hard time with him and he's such a good passer."
The good news for the Illini is they won't have to wait long to make those improvements with a date at No. 6 Duke on Tuesday (8:30 p.m., ESPN).
Like Baylor, it provides another win-win scenario for the rest of the season - and with a few adjustments perhaps the Illini will leave Durham, N.C., with an actual win.
"(Baylor) was a great opportunity to learn," Underwood said. "We saw some great guards who are veterans. It's great for our young guys."