Ep. 1136 - Illini hang on to beat Maryland 78-72 in regular-season finale

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Welcome in to the On and Quarer podcast, it is Jeremy Warner live in college park Maryland

and Kyle Tosk back in champagne.

We're here to recap in Illinois 78-72 win over Maryland, Illinois clinches a top 4 seed

in the big 10 tournament.

They will play on Friday, whether they are the three or the four depends on the outcome

of the Iowa Nebraska game, which is ongoing right now, but a 15 and five regular season

in the big 10, they go 24 and seven on the season.

I think most would take that, Kyle, but some concerns in this one as a closer than expected

game against a Maryland team that finishes 17th place in the big 10, 11 and 20 on the season

4 and 16 in big 10 play, Andre Mills goes off against Illinois with 30 points, another

quick, very talented freshman guard that Illinois could not contain, hit some tough shots.

With Robin Mirkage who is phenomenal for the Olin, I really kept him afloat in the first

half, helped him close that one out, 22 points, 11 rebounds for Robin Mirkage, but shooting

struggles, Kyle, but in a time where it is survive in advance, Illinois found a way

to survive.

We'll leave some question marks going into the postseason after the last three weeks that

have been kind of uninspired.

The good news is you escaped disaster, a loss there, I think this is a very different

podcast and there's still plenty of things to take out of that game, but you get a win,

you clinch the triple by, you avoid what would have been a really, really bad loss in

complete a season where this team really didn't have any bad losses in terms of opponent

quality.

I think the way in which some of them happen, you could consider bad losses, but in terms

of the actual teams they lost to, this team did not have a bad slip up like today

could have been, found a way to get it done in a game that, let's face it, for a lot

of it, Maryland just had more energy and just felt like a team that wanted it more and

that is concerning for the Illinois team, but down the stretch of the game when it got

close, Illinois was able to make enough plays to get out of there and now you get a chance

to regroup heading into the Big Ten tournament, but you've got to correct some things coming

out of not just this game, but really a stretch here down the end of the season that has not

been this team's best basketball and that's the cliche that everyone talks about, you

want to be playing your best ball going into the postseason, this team's not doing that

right now and so they're going to have some things to really figure out about themselves

here over the next five days before the Big Ten tournament quarter finals on Friday.

We are live on our YouTube channel for joining us, hit that like button, subscribe, hit the

notifications bell, we will go over our hits and misses from this game, we're going to

try and keep it a shorter podcast, I got to catch a flight out of Baltimore back home

here Kyle, but the number one thing for me is I don't like that Brad Underwood after

the game is talking about his, how his team's energy levels in March are not quite there.

So let's hear a longer clip from Brad Underwood about two minutes, his thoughts on the game

and then we'll dive right back into it.

Yeah, it's about what I thought it would be.

Game 20 of the gauntlet, really proud of our guys, it's always a challenge on senior night

and they had four that buzz was awfully proud of and have had maybe not quite the year

that they wanted, but you know they're fine, my crazy, and I expected nothing but, I thought

that we started slow in terms of just kind of the enthusiasm, I wasn't very happy when

we left Mills, have a walk in three, right, they're real early in the game to kind of ignite

a player like that, he's been a huge difference since our first game.

And their abilities, offensively, my opinion, very talented and I thought Merck was a guy

that was probably the difference for us in the first half on the offensive glass, a

game, we outrebounded them 16 in the first game and we were down one and a half and it'll

show our energy level and wasn't quite what it needed to be, but I didn't think we just

kind of hung in there, kept delivering body blows, a night to keep one great, give them

a lot of credit, but I thought Merck was terrific, Jake Davis was fantastic in the first

half of this cutting and his ability to make some passes and you know that it was just

all about the mismatch, they five way switched, one of the paint 42 to 20 and you know that's

how we figured that coming in, that was the game plan and we got good looks, there's

not one of those that I would want Ben to shoot over or Keaton or Andre and I thought

that it was a night that we prepared for in our program, a night when the ball doesn't

go in, how do you win and we found a way to nice.

You mentioned the long start, now the season's just the kind of one and done though, how

do you kind of get that back to cross it, that's, yeah that's, we've been talking about

that on here, I'm very conscientious in making sure that our players understand what the

end can look like and so we do talk about it, but you know there's no doubt you got a 20

game got went in this lake, so you know it's it's it's it's a proudest group, we had

some tough losses, but we're 15-5 and we'll see where that puts us, but you know do a lot

good things, a lot of big games.

Shout out to Tower Coddingham from Oanaibor.com for that follow up, because that was my big

concern, was when bread brings up enthusiasm, like you didn't have that from the start,

kind of let's march man, like it is time where that enthusiasm there, who you're playing,

it's got to be there, if you're playing a 15-seater or a 14-seater in the first round,

it's got to be there, outside of America, which I thought Illinois was getting out hustled

everything, I just thought I focused for a lot of this part, I know Maryland was making

some tough shots, but I just didn't see that desire to come out and compete at the level

that needs to be once you get in the postseason play, so that's disappointing for a team

that's got a bunch of veterans, and I think Brad, to be honest with you, I want to see

some old-school Brad on the sideline, and just laying into his team a little bit, because

it's just not acceptable to not have that energy, kudos to them, they showed poise, it

will find a way to get a win, but I don't like that we're going to the postseason with

questions about enthusiasm and energy.

Yeah, it's not what you want to hear right now, this should be the time where you really

turn that dial up to 100 on all those things, and look, I think there is a differentiator

between what the atmosphere of a game or what's surrounding a game next week, and in the

NCAA tournament versus this one against the team, who's at the bottom of the conference

and kind of this last regular season game that you're trying to get through to get to

next week, it's not excusing it, but I think that you can explain what this spot was on

the schedule a lot easier than you could a true winner-go-home game, but I think you

want to see this team set the tone for what's to come, and I thought they did that on Tuesday

in the response that they had to, and I thought that's what this week was going to be about

and should have been about for this team, for one that had lost four of six games and

really needed that emotional response, and they had it on Tuesday, just didn't really

have it for most of this game, and I think a week like this where you are playing kind

of the bottom feeders of the league could have been an opportunity for this team to really

kind of put their foot on the gas for two games and say, okay, we got our swagger back

and we feel like we're in a really good place and into Chicago next week, and just didn't

see enough of that in this game, and it did feel like a team that showed up and thought,

hey, let's just get through this one, and we should be able to just sleepwalk and take

care of Maryland. Maryland didn't approach it that way. Maryland wanted to win, Maryland

had all the fight in the world, and Illinois quickly realized that, and I think to their

credit down the stretch of the game, there was a little bit more of it, but you got to

bring 40 minutes of it next week, the week after, or you're going to go home. You play

like this against pretty much any team, you're going to see the rest of the way, and Illinois

season is probably going to be over. Yeah, that's my problem. Listen, we could sit here

and maybe the energy would have been better if they made shots. They didn't make shots

tonight, and they shot a lot of open ones. I thought the shot quality for Illinois was

way better, and I was sitting there thinking, oh, this game's going to be blown open

once Maryland doesn't make some really tough contested shots, but Mills and Coit and Adams

continued to make them, is the game went along, especially Andre Mills, but then he just

continued to get to the rim, picking up fouls, finishing at the rim, getting some tough

runners, and I just tell Illinois, they only outrebounded Maryland 33 to 30. I know it's

a good rebounding team, but you outrebounded it by 15 in Champaign Kyle, and just some of

the loose balls I thought they were getting after, and I thought the crowd, there are certain

moments where it felt like Maryland, if they just made some shots, would have gone up,

and I wonder what would have happened there, just because I thought the energy was all

on their side, and this wasn't a great crowd here today. So I just wanted to see Kyle

and Boswell, or I know Thomas Waviva, such employee, because they went to Z, or Honor's Story

Occupature, one of those veterans kind of grabbed the ball, and it'd take advantage of

it, and just like say, hey, we're not losing tonight, but you know what the big hit was,

Kyle? Is David Mirkovich, was that guy? Like, you're a freshman, and Keaton Wagler has

done it in moments this year, and we're getting to him, but David Mirkovich said, we're

not losing tonight, and he was just fantastic, 22 points, 13 in the first half, 11 rebounds,

seven double double of the year, and they just played offense through him, rode that guy,

where Maryland double teamed him, he found the right pass, cutting with, by Jake Davis

was great. It's just, David came up with rebounds, big buckets, the one late in the game,

he just would not let you lose tonight, and he'd get that from a freshman, man, that's

a special performance. Really, really impressive, and this is a guy that has consistently brought

that all season, and he's been the guy really, him and Keaton, your two freshmen on this

team for the most part, I know Keaton didn't play all that well in this game, but those

have been the two guys that we haven't had to question those things, the toughness level,

the energy level of those guys, and David in particular feels like it's been so consistent,

you really needed it in this game. I thought too, like offensively, there's a lot of timidness

from guys, like guys were just, there wasn't a lot of decisiveness and aggressiveness for

most guys on the floor, David was decisive and aggressive, and you needed that, and you

just needed a guy that could punish some of those mismatches that Maryland was giving up.

I can't fathom why a team in game 31 of the season is sending double teams to David

Mirkovic in the post. I think it's really dumb. I haven't watched 30 games of Illinois

film. Maryland did it for the first half. David diced it up, and that was really Illinois's

only source of offense, and he's been really, really good at just reading those, and I think

he's grown in that area as the season's gone along for no more back court that had nothing

going in the first half to be able to really just run your offense through him and allow

him to be your lead decision maker is just such a weapon. So, yeah, it was a really, really

good performance. Only attempts one, three in this game, and that's just because he knew

it was needed and knew exactly what his role was to just physically impose his will in

the paint was really good as a finisher had the layup when it was 7270 on that baseline

out of bounds, which was a heck of a design there on that baseline out of bounds play

in a clutch moment, but David just powers his way and finishes with his left hand.

There really is one bad decision of the day when he took a tough fade away jumper, he responded

and made the biggest play of the game. So, couldn't be more impressed. He's certainly made

a case for an all big 10 spot here this week with the season that he's put together.

He's been really, really consistent, and today he was a super star for Illinois.

I know he was on one person's third team, so I hope, and I think he deserves to be in

all big 10 player. I think Keaton Logger deserves to be first team. He was maybe second in the

big 10 player of the year voting him and Jeremy Fears Jr., and I think Yaxel Lennonborg

is probably going to be the favorite for that because he used the best player on the

best team. But yeah, Merck, what a phenomenal year for him. But Kyle, I'll give it to you.

Hit or miss. What do you want to hit on?

I don't know. Do you want to stick with the hits or should we talk about? I mean, in

a game like this feels like there's more misses. Yeah, which is, which is good because

it's a win, right? Like, as you said, to start this thing, the fact that they got out

of here with a win survived. It is good to learn from that. But there were certainly

I thought more misses that we need to harp on today. Yeah, I think the big misses perimeter

defense, and especially against a explosive guard with the ball in his hands. That's been

a huge issue for this team. And I don't think this team's perimeter defenders are given

them nearly enough on that end. They got beat by Andre Mills in this game. Illinois

just didn't have anybody on the floor who could stay in front of them. And that has been

a huge issue, even with Kyle and Boswell healthy. You could use the excuse for a while with

Kyle and out. But now you're fully healthy. And I know Andre Stoyakovich is dealing with

the flu in this game. But yet, all your guys out there, you had your best perimeter defenders

on the floor. Nobody could keep him in front, especially in the second half. I agree with

you. I think some of his early shots that got him some confidence were tougher. And there

were moments when Illinois made it tough on him. But man, there was just too many opportunities

in the second half where he just blew past guys. Kyle and Boswell wasn't good enough.

Ben Hummerick House was on him a little bit too often in this game. Probably tough matchup

for him. But he was getting blown by Keaton Wagler, was getting hung up on some screens

and couldn't keep him in front when he was on him. Andre Stoyakovich obviously was

dealing with some things. But yeah, he dominated the game. He controlled the game for Maryland.

He got to wherever he wanted to way too easily. Illinois did not have any resistance on the

perimeter. And then really, they didn't have much resistance at the rim either. I mean,

your backline too really didn't do a whole lot defensively for Illinois in this game's

Von Amir zero blocks for as much as he played in this game and didn't really alter all

that many either. Thomas love same thing. So, you know, Maryland is the worst offense in

the big 10 across the entire season. There's 17th only ahead of that Oregon offense that

we saw State Farm Center on Tuesday during conference play. And they got a lot of easy

ones in this game. And Illinois just did not look good enough defensively, nearly lost

this game. I know offense wasn't great for Illinois in this game, but you should have

been able to string more stops together than you did against a bad Maryland offense.

I'll go with another miss because I really got nothing at you. You worked that town

perfectly. They, it's their Achilles heel, like just just guarding guards that are quick,

fast athletic and boy, Andre Mills could be a really good one. Kyle, like I, Buzz Williams,

I think his idea of just kind of handing the keys to these freshmen him and Mills and

Adams. I think could pay off next year if they can keep some of their guys and add to

it. They could take a big leap with a guy like that. But they struggled to defend those

guys all year. But on the offensive side, this team's a little bit of a shooting slump,

like they still score Kyle because they were so good at the rim. They were attacking the

rim in the second half. I love that to start. They got to the free throw line so often

tonight. I got some offensive rebounds back tonight, which was good to see 12 offensive

rebounds. And when they have 20 or 19 second chance points. So that's that's it. When

always offense and that's how they math this thing. So it's good to see that. But 29.8%

from three during the last five games here. That's a little concerning, but we'll see

if they can bust out of it. But can I admit something? I was kind of thinking about it,

coming into the game, Kyle. I'm a little concerned about Keaton Lager. Last five games,

the efficiency has taken a dip. You mentioned guys playing a little timid. I thought he was

timid early on. I know with Kyle and Boswell, some offense was running through him early

on this game. I know teams are trying to take things out of him out of his hands. But

like over the last five games, Keaton Lager, 36% from the field, 26% from three. He looks

frustrated. He looks like the physicality is getting to him. I don't know if he's worn

down if all these minutes or whatever it is. But he had four days off before this one.

He's got four days off going into the next game. I don't know how they need him shooting

at a higher level, scoring at a higher level to be the best version of themselves and to

truly be that team that can make a run. Then he Keaton Lager to be a little bit more efficient

and a little bit better. He's had such a great year. The expectation is so high. But the

last two weeks, he has not played like a big 10 player year, right?

Yeah, over his last five, he's shooting 36% from the field, 26% from three. He's gotten

to double figures in all those games and is now scored in double figures in 23 straight.

But it hasn't looked anywhere near the same that it did when he was obviously put 46

on Purdue, 28 against Nebraska when he looked like the big 10 player of the year, one of

the best guards in the country. He haven't had that guy over the last five. And I know Brad

Underwood said after this game, he was dealing with some back stiffness. But you know, that's

fine for today. But this has been a trend. This isn't just a one off. This has been something

that he's been fighting through. And I know some people have mentioned too, like is the shoulder

from UCLA, bothering him a little bit because it feels like he hasn't been quite the same with

his finishing and shooting since that. Maybe I don't know you'd have to ask him. We haven't

at this point. That's something we probably should before the big 10 tournament.

Yeah, but it's, I mean, yeah, he just, I do think like we've seen a concerted effort from

teams to really kind of beat him up and be as physical as possible with him to his credit

that hasn't dissuaded him from getting the ball inside drawing files like he hasn't once stopped

and like been deterred from trying to get to the rim and get to the free throw line. I think you

do a second half. He was fantastic. Second half, like I thought the first half he was,

he was timid. I thought he was a little passive. He was, you know, settling for some shots. But

that's second half, man. He got down hill, got to the rim, really ignited the team. I drew

nine fouls today. Brad said they should have been four or five more. I don't disagree with him

on that, but got to the free throw line able to finish at the rim. So that, even that, even if

you're not shooting great from three, that's the Keaton Woggle you need. That kind of aggressive Keaton

Woggle. Yeah. And for the most part, he's still been that even during this inefficient stretch.

Like he hasn't, there hasn't been games and that's the beauty of him is, you know, he's still made

an impact offensively, even in games where he hasn't shot it well. But you need to, you need a more

efficient Keaton Woggle. You need a guy that looked like, you know, the one from January when he

was playing his best basketball from early February. If this team's going to reach a final four,

if this team is going to go far in the NCAA tournament, you need your superstar to be the best

player in the floor in those games like that. That is the formula. You can break down so much about

these games. A lot of times it comes down to, do you have a better dude than they have? And in a lot

of games, Illinois has had it. And, you know, I still have a lot of confidence in Keaton Woggle.

There's mentality and his confidence to continue shooting and to continue being aggressive. Like,

I do, I agree with you. He was timid early in this game. I don't think that's been a big concern

for me. I just think the way it's looked with him and how much harder some of his shots have been

here recently. He just feels like he hasn't created the same space and hasn't gotten as clean of

looks. And I think part of that is opponents maybe figuring out how to best defend him a little bit

and knowing that, hey, this isn't a dynamic athlete who's going to blow by me. If I just beat him up

and, you know, try to body blow him to death, that it might make it tougher on him. But, yeah,

I think it's fair to be a little bit concerned about Keaton Woggle because this is five games now

where it just hasn't been quite the same level that we were used to seeing for a while.

Hey, listen, I mean, he could still be top 10 pick, but just to ask a couple of weeks he hasn't

looked like it. He just hasn't looked like that caliber of player, but he's still very good,

still helps him out a lot, but to make that run, they need him to be special. Just a few little

things. Love Jake Davis is cutting off of David Mirkovic's double teams. That was great. I thought

David and Tommy had a good thing going. I liked what Tommy was doing offensively, kind of as

the point center, but they put Zian and Zee got some dunks. It really helped playing against that

zone defense and Zee was better defensively, but I didn't think he was all that impactful at the

rim. He was a presence, but he didn't really stop them from scoring at the rim. The other part,

first half, they forced him turnover sky, which led to some points. We don't see that often

from this team. Just a few more hits. Is there anything else you want to add from this game before

you look ahead? I think it was noticeable and you hit on it there. I mean, talking about the

shooting slump, but this team didn't shoot it well from three in this game, but they also took

the third fewest threes that they've taken all season long. The fewest they've taken since

L.I.U. on November 22nd when they shot 16. And they really did. Yeah, that's an NCA tournament team,

by the way. They punched their ticket. But no, I think I like to see the adjustment from

Illinois, even though they were getting a lot of really quality looks from three. Like, I thought

most of the threes they got in this game were really good looks. They just didn't make them,

Benham Rick, I've missed a lot of open ones. The even six brothers continued to struggle,

but Illinois down the stretch of the game when they needed to score, when they needed to stave off

up Maryland team that was hot and made a couple runs. They knew what they needed to do. They

attacked the rim a lot more. They were efficient from two. And I think that's the end game adjustment

that you want to see from a mentality standpoint offensively as you go into these winter go home

games. No, and that this team is still reliant on the three and it's a team that's going to get up

a lot of them and it's capable of making them. But now that you've seen an extended slump here,

it seems really good when they're aggressive, when they attack the rim, when they get to the

free throw line. Those are avenues that you can still score efficiently if you're not shooting it

well. This team has the capability, the size to do it. And I thought they did a good job of that,

especially later in the second half when they had to close this game out.

Yeah, five for 24 from three to nine Kyle and average 1.27 or two six points per possession.

They found a way. I mean, just pounding it inside, David with some of those putbacks,

the guards getting downhill. I thought they did a really good job of that in the second half.

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All right. The other thing I want to mention here, you mentioned it earlier,

17 and 0 in non-quad-1 games. So quad-2 quad-3 quad-4. There are no bad losses on this resume.

So while you can pick apart some flaws of this team, think they play more like a three or four seed,

well they don't have bad losses. And that's the difference between Illinois and Wisconsin.

It's like the greatest wins in the country, but they have some bad losses. Illinois doesn't have

those bad losses. They have what they're seven and seven in quad-1 games, eight and six in

quad-1 games kind of towing that line right now. But that's huge. And I don't want it to go

over a lookout. They went eight and two on the road in the big 10 this year. I think they're

a little underwhelming at home with seven and three in some of those losses that they had,

but to go eight and two on the road. And those two losses are overtime losses to Michigan State,

UCLA, two top seven, top six big 10 teams because UCLA is the number six seed and two NCAA

tournament teams. They did work on the road this year. So they gave themselves a chance. 15 and

five usually gives you a chance at the big 10 title. Just not this year, not with that Michigan

team that just wrapped up a 19 and one conference season. Yeah, eight and two on the road,

really impressive. This team was better on the road this year than at home. Better road and

neutral. I mean, even going back to non-conference. And I don't know it. I don't want to I don't

want to start the whole thing. That's the positive of that is for sure. This team has proven that

away from home, they've been at their best. And also when you talk about the two-seed conversation

which we can get into a little bit more, it's big. Away from home performance is something that the

committee looks at. Big differentiator between two similar teams is hey, if this team has done more

away from home, that usually gives you a leg up and Illinois's done, but as well away from home

and in true road games is almost any team in the country with with I mean, the wins that they've

had at Purdue, I know they've struggled, but at Nebraska, even at Ohio State, who's played a lot

better at Iowa, who's a tournament team. So yeah, I mean, it's that's impressive and even just

looking at the regular season as a whole 24 and seven, 24 is the most regular season wins

that this program's had since 2005-06. It's 20 years. So it was a really successful regular season.

And I know that this performance in itself wasn't inspiring the end of the season,

leave some questions and into the postseason, but the team finished off a really, really impressive

31 game regular season and has set themselves up as a potential two-seed, as a triple buy in the

Big 10 tournament and as a contender, you don't go 24 and seven in the regular season with the

resume this team's put together without having a chance going into the postseason to do some

special things. I'll have to do it, but this has been a really good season for Illinois on the whole.

All right, before we talk about the Big 10 tournament, we'll have finality on that in the next

couple minutes here. And we'll talk about the potential for a number two seed and we're three seed

where they're at there. Let's get to a few super chats before we get out of here. $20

are super chat from Big DMH. Jeremy and Kyle, great coverage all year. We really appreciate

your dedication. Appreciate that Big DMH. Why do you think this team looks so tired every game?

Shots are flat. No energy and hustle plays. It's worrisome. Go one night. Do you have any theories

on that, Kyle? I don't know. I don't know about tires. I think they're an athletic team. I just

think they're, I mean, David Mirkovich has a chance for his first dunk of the year, Kyle,

on a pick two. And he can't get above the rim. I mean, he's just a slower guy,

even such a slower guy. You know, you could sell me that Keaton-Wogler is, right? You could

sell me that that guy is tired. But listen, I know it's been people have been pounding the

Brandon Lee and Mahailo Petrovich should have played more. I would have had a hard time doing that

throughout the year, Kyle, just because there were so many games. You play those guys. I think

it might be the difference in winning and losing. And these guys are 18 to 23 years old.

Like they recover. You, you were covered differently than I at 21 than to me at 39 years old,

Kyle. I can tell you that much. Yeah, I, I don't know if tired is the issue. Maybe it is. I,

you'd have to ask guys, I don't necessarily have had that takeaway myself in terms of all this

team just looks out of legs and tired. Now, maybe the shooting slump has something to do with

that. Maybe as you get down towards the end of the season that that builds up. But I think

every team for the most part is going through that a little bit where you get down to the end of

the season. And you know, you're not quite as fresh as you were in November and December. And you

kind of got to work your way through that. I don't think Illinois is alone in that. I think to

your point, it's more so this is kind of by nature a pretty slow team. And when they're not playing

with exceptional energy and hustle, that maybe looks a little a certain way. Like it's a slower

team that if they don't have the right energy level, that maybe it can look sluggish and more so

than some other teams. And I think that was more so the issue in this game. I don't necessarily

think it was a bunch of guys that were exhausted more so than a team that just wasn't necessarily

up for the game in the way that they should have been. And I think because of the hustle, the one

guy who never looks tired of me has been homework house. Just the energy and effort level he plays

with. I just never question some of those things. David can look tired sometimes because he

does play so damn hard. Tommy does because he's so big. Keaton's the one I'm worried about. I wonder

about that that health the back the hip. He's had some like old man injuries for a 19-year-old, but

that would be more of my concern is he just banged up at this point with a shoulder back hip. He's

kind of gone through this year. That's the guy that would worry me a little bit. All right, $25

Super Chef from RBC. Thank you, RBC. Underwood loves a tough schedule, but I wonder if it leaves

his team exhausted instead of prepared. We got a narrative here, Kyle. Maybe he needs a deeper bench

to get his team prepared. Thanks for the great coverage this year. Thank you, RBC. Yeah, again,

how many teams outside of Michigan who now is not playing 90? Kyle, how many teams are playing 90?

But you watch more time than I do. No, it's not very many. I'd have to look into that a little bit

more, but no, for most teams, especially you look at most of the top teams, nine is really the limit.

And that ninth guy is usually getting seven minutes. You've got your top seven or eight on most

of these teams. And again, to that comment, I don't think the quality of opponents that Brad

scheduling in November and December are making much of a difference of how tired this team's going

to be in March. Because either way, you're going through 20 big 10 games. And either way, you're

going to deal with the injuries that they dealt with in the shorter rotation. Like that was going

to happen regardless. I think it's, it's a fair question to ask. Could a little bit deeper rotation

earlier in the season have made a difference? I personally just don't really think so. And I

think I think your record could have been worse. I think you could have been more firmly on the

three or four seed line right now. Yeah, I think you could have lost more games. And I ultimately

think that as you go through a season, you kind of want to establish who those guys are. I think

role identification on this team has been such a big reason why they've won when they have. And

everybody buying into those things. And I think if you're inconsistent with your rotation,

that can stunt that a little bit too. So it's a fair question. I certainly think there's a chance

that it could have made a slight impact. I don't think it's the difference between this team

making a final four and not when it comes down to it. I think this team's just got to play with

more energy. I think this team's got to defend better, make more shots. If they do that,

I don't think we'll be having these same questions. All right. SRQ with a $10 super chat. And I

am keeping an eye on that. I went to Nebraska game, which got a little tight at the end.

$10 super chat from SRQ. Thank you, SRQ. Thank you for your coverage,

this series says any idea why Jake didn't play more in the second half. Sorry if this would

address just tuned in. Jake Davis played nine minutes in the second half. He played 12 in the

first half. So not that big of a difference. He didn't get any shots off, but usually when

they go Ben over Jake or Andre over Jake, it's defense Kyle. It's a defense Kyle. Jake's going

to struggle to stay in front of anybody for the most part, even if he's smart, even if he knows where

to be and when to be there. Just guys are going to be able to blow up by him and he didn't have any

rebounds in those nine minutes either in the second half. He had a couple on the offensive glass

in the first half, but he's the one guy right now that I feel comfortable making shots from three.

Tie game and Lincoln, by the way, I would just say game tying three with three seconds left. They

do not want us to know who Illinois is going to play before I know I got to catch your flight, man.

I don't want to hang around for this one. Yeah, Jake was really good in the first half. He

gets nine minutes in the second half, which it's not drastically different than the 12 he played

in the first half. I just think he wasn't. He didn't really touch it all that much in the second

half in Illinois. He wasn't as involved because he, you know, in the first half, I think what was

really working was those David Merkovich post traps and then Jake Davis flashing in the middle

as a cutter and and he was the beneficiary of a lot of that action, whether it was as a shooter

or as a cutter. And in the second half, obviously Maryland wasn't trapping anymore. Illinois

went a different direction. Davis was more just a spacer and wasn't necessarily involved. I didn't

come away from the second half saying Jake Davis was doing a lot wrong. He just didn't

do anything really to impact things. And I thought his first half. He was a lot more involved in the

action. I was really good. So I don't, you know, Illinois was looking for perimeter defensive answers

down the stretch against Andre Mills. And I think Jake Davis is low on the list of those things when

you're trying to find a guy you can guard. So I think that had more to do with it than anything

Jake necessarily did wrong in the second half. Yeah. All right. Before we look ahead to the post

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All right. Oh, no, I, or Iowa Nebraska. We still tied at 70. Are we going to an overtime here, Kyle?

2.7 seconds left. Nebraska has the ball has to go the length of the floor. There's been back-to-back time

out. So I don't, don't think we're going to get our answer. Yeah. So if we don't, if we don't have

the answer by the time we're done with this podcast, the possibilities are Illinois, if Nebraska

pulls this out, is the four seed. They would likely play Wisconsin who'd have the winner of USC

and or USC. And who is it? The 12th watching 10, I believe. Yeah. So I think Wisconsin, I feel

pretty good about the way they're playing with USC, just tumbling here down the stretch. So

maybe a fun rematch. You have Colin Boswell and Andre's story. I'll give it back again. Wisconsin

can beat almost anybody, but they also have some bad losses. So I'd like to see that rematch be a

huge quad one victory. I think if Illinois beat Wisconsin, it'd be no doubt that they would be

the number two seed in the NCAA tournament. I count up a Brad Evans before the game. And he

basically said as much beat Maryland when the first game of the Big Ten tournament, they should be safe

with that number two seed. He said 95% chance if they do that. And then that would set up a rematch

against number one Michigan, which would be fun. It's just be fun to get that rematch again Kyle

to see what Illinois could do with it. I wouldn't expect them to win, but you get another great chance

to kind of solidify yourself on that two seed line. But if Iowa finds a way to pull this out

and finish over time, by the way, officially, when they go to overtime, it would be the three seed.

And they would get the winner of UCLA. And I think it'd probably be Minnesota out of that

Wednesday game, pride, advanced to play UCLA. I think Illinois is better in UCLA. I think it was a

terrible, a lot of fun. It was a terrible night for Illinois there. But UCLA's played,

but it's a pretty good ball here lately. So that would be another one that I think if you win that,

you'd solidify yourself on the two seed line. But I think you'd have a better chance of getting to

the Big Ten championship if you get to that three seed because Michigan State's not quite

what Michigan is, even if Michigan State's really, really good. So if they get in the bottom of

the bracket, they're three seed. They'd be playing night games. If they get to the top of the bracket,

they'd be playing afternoon games. In terms of draw, they are vastly different, at least to me,

for sure. These next five minutes are very impactful on Illinois's chances of getting

to Sunday in the Big Ten tournament because Wisconsin, Michigan is an entirely different

beast than UCLA Michigan State to me. I think UCLA, outside of Paulie Pavilion, doesn't scare me

all that much, not to say they're not a good team, but their results at home versus away from home,

talk about how good Illinois has been. UCLA has been a nightmare anytime that they've left the

West Coast. So especially playing their second game then, which I'm sure McCrone and we'll find a

way to have some words about at some point. I like Illinois in a rematch, especially against that

team, who they can punish on the glass, who they can probably score at the rim at will against.

And then Michigan State, I'd like to see that rematch again too. Michigan State,

really good defensively. They've played well. Obviously, you'd have to find an answer for Jeremy

fears, but man, I found myself feeling like that was maybe the biggest missed opportunity of all

these losses for Illinois because I don't know. I had so many opportunities to win that game,

even without kind of loss. You think about it now? You think about it now just to positioning for

that too. See, I mean, Michigan States worked their way into there. Now today's lost the Michigan.

I don't think it hurt them, but didn't help them. But that's why that win over Purdue is so big

right now. But if you had that win over Michigan State, I don't think there's any question. I think

Illinois would be the six overall seed in this tournament right now. Yep. Now the other path

is a lot more difficult, but it would be a much bigger test for this team, which I think can be good

for them. That's the other side of it, like from an observers standpoint. I know from a fan

standpoint, you absolutely want the easier path and you want to get the better draw to win the big

10 tournament. I think in some ways for this team, seeing the Wisconsin Michigan draw would be a lot

better because Wisconsin talk about the defensive questions for this team. That's a humongous test,

trying to guard Nick Boyd, a Wisconsin offense that since January 1st, we're talking over two

months, number three offense of efficiency in the country per Bart Torvig. This has been a really

dangerous offense that Illinois, I mean, they obviously were without Kyle and Boswell and Andre

Syracovic in that first game. But are we all that confident that it's going to look that much

different this time around based on what we've seen? We'd have to see it and that would be a test

for this team coming off what they did today. And then obviously Michigan, that's the type of team

you'd see to get to a final four. And I think getting that rematch would be really good for this

team just to try and respond to that first game from and really see what that's like again. So

I think, you know, there's two very, very different draws that this could be depending on how these

next three minutes play out and link in Nebraska. Yeah, it's interesting because like you mentioned

the fan with what they desire in this game. I bet there's some fans out there that's like,

yeah, let's just win one game and go home. Just figure out a way to get home and not worry yourself

out. But I love, I love the big 10 tournament. I think it's so entertaining. It's so many good

teams playing against each other. A lot of times it feels like to me, Kyle, who wants it the most

when they get there like that 21 Illinois team, they want it so bad. The Iowa team a couple

years ago when they followed up with the loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Michigan

last year. But it certainly does give you some momentum going into the NCAA tournament. But

I'm not sure how much that matters. So if people are talking about a tired team, a team that's

banged up a little bit with Keaton Wagler, you know, it wouldn't be the worst thing if they went home

after two days. But I'd love to see them play Michigan again. I think that would be good for

this team because I count and brought it up again like that that Michigan loss and how kind of

woke this team up. Now, were they awake today? I didn't think so first a little bit of it, but

he seemed to think that that loss really impacted them. So I'd like to see how they would respond

with another chance at them. Yeah, me too. And I just I go back to the fact that

I still think at the highest end of outcomes for this team, if they're at their best, this can be

a final four team. To get there, you got to beat Michigan or Duke or Arizona or Florida. Like

these are really, really good team. Most likely, obviously, upsets can happen. But to get there

that's a team that you have to beat so far. When we've seen Illinois play that level of team,

they haven't done it. And they they got physically overmatched by Michigan in their home building.

That's the last data point that we've seen when this team has had to play the best of the best

in the country. So I think seeing that again before it's truly do or die winner go home and just

seeing where you are and hopefully bringing a better effort in some of the littler things and

you know, from a physicality standpoint that we're lacking in that first game to even if even

if Illinois doesn't win the game, if it's a really competitive high level game that Illinois

goes toe-to-toe with Michigan, I think that will give this team and hopefully people around this

team more confidence heading into the NCAA tournament that they can compete in the biggest

games and that they do still have that that upside and ceiling of getting to a final four.

So I think that is important and I would really like to see it and I think this team,

it would help them a lot. It would help them a lot to just have to go through that again and have

to see exactly what a potential national title winner looks like and where they stack up and what

they have to do to beat a team like that. And here's the thing like you could have questions about

this team and their fair, right, especially defensively, get a get out of this shooting

slump Kyle, but all the time don't we go to the end subway tournament we think we know a team and

then they'll just go on to run like the the early 18 but a couple years ago lost at Penn State

and that terrible, terrible finish. We want a couple games against bad teams in Iowa and Minnesota at

that time. One at Wisconsin lost at home to Purdue, one at Iowa and then they just went on that

ridiculous six game post game post season winning streak where they win the Big Ten tournament,

come back from my double digit deficits and all those games have a nice draw get to Kane in the

second round beat Iowa State in a great game. So every time you feel like you know what this team

is going to be like a lot of fans sitting there going, oh, this team is going to lose in the second

round or losing the sweet 16. We have no idea. That's what makes the one in dumb post season so great,

but I just I don't want to be questioning energy and enthusiasm once we get some posts.

Yeah, and I think that's the part of it to with today's game like I think

part of it was the fact that this was still a regular season game and while you were still playing

for seeding, it didn't quite have the same march feel that a post season does. I'm not coming out

of today's game and saying, man, I have real concerns about the energy this team's going to come

out with against the 15 seed and the NCAA tournament or the first week and or the Big Ten tournament.

Like maybe it happens, I I still think there's a different switch that gets flipped a lot of times

when you you get into those true post season atmospheres and environments and so think this

team can do that. But yeah, look, we can't say anything definitively right here and I think we've

seen over 30 games. Sorry, then the 2021 team, maybe once 16 to 17, going to the NCAA tournament,

losing the second round. Right. So it's it's so hard. That's why that's the beauty of the NCAA

tournament. That's what makes it so enjoyable and enticing every year is you you can think what

you want to think going in and a lot of times it ends up being wrong because it's a it's a random

tournament in some cases. It's one game. Are you the better team for one game for 40 minutes and

you can get upset. You can go on a run, you can get hot. You know, this team's not shooting

it well right now. Maybe they shoot it 60% for four games and go to the final four. That can happen

that has happened like Steve is capable of it and we've seen to where I was getting to like we've

seen 31 games of this team now. It's been a lot of good and we've seen for a lot of it this team

play really well and look like a team capable of making a final four. Recently we haven't necessarily

seen the version of that team, but it's there and the talent is there and despite what some people

think, I think the coaching is there. I will maintain. I think the coaching is there. So let's see

what happens. I think this team has all the ability to beat most anybody that they see and we won't

know until we actually see it happen, but you certainly do need to correct some things. You do

need to be better defensively. You do need to have energy for 40 minutes every game. Those are the

non-negotiable things and and then we'll see what happens with shooting and some of the randomness

that the NCAA tournament brings. If I were to told you before the season, Illinois goes 24 and 7,

15 and 5 in the big 10, 8 and 6 and quad one games, right? 7 and 7, whatever it is right now

and no bad losses. You take it. You absolutely take that and run with it and know you get a two

seed or three seed in the NCAA tournament to give you a pretty decent, pretty good path

to get to the second weekend and then see what you can do. So really good regular season. Four

Illinois wasn't without its warts. Looks like Nebraska's going to pull this one off Kyle. So Illinois

likely a four seed. We'll see. The other part about the NCAA tournament, you're not playing in

the big 10 anymore, man. The big 10 is brutally good, especially the top of it. I think I think

UCLA got a lot better as the season went along. Now the bottom is not good, right? The bottom is

not good. That's why tonight was concerning, but you know, you get some ACC teams on that bracket.

I would feel pretty good about it. And a lot of it just comes down to matchups too. It's just

that that's the part of it. Like we'll see what that draw ultimately looks like. There's certain

matchups that could really cause concern of like if there's a there's a seven seed that Illinois

sees that has a elite dynamic lead guard that's explosive that can take games over that has,

you know, a stretch big man that can spread Illinois out like it's just there's certain matchups

that certainly I think could give this team trouble. I think there's certain matchups too

that this team can probably dominate, you know, teams that don't rebound it all that well,

teams that aren't good around the rim, like teams that just don't have the size to match up

with all the positional size Illinois has or the perimeter defenders to make life difficult on

wild glare, right? You know, a lot of it comes down to that too. We just won't know until we see

a bracket come out. We won't know until we see how this team looks in Chicago. If a different

year is flipped and, you know, if they figure some things out against a good Wisconsin offense

and potentially if they win that game in elite Michigan team. So I think we'll still learn

a lot more about this team over the next week and we'll see it's it's going to be fun to see

this team in some high level postseason games and that's the one thing that Brad Underwood has

consistently brought to this program. Now the seventh straight year or sixth straight should have

been seven if not for a COVID cancellation of this team is in the mix and is going to be playing

some high level postseason basketball games. All right, that'll do it for us. I got to catch a

flight back to Chicago midway, but we appreciate all you guys for tuning in to the Alana

Quarer podcast. Give us a follow rating review wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching

live on our YouTube channel, thank you for that. Hit that like button before you get out of here.

Hit the notifications bell and subscribe to us. We appreciate that. Kyle will have player grades.

I'll have something here from Maryland. We got plenty of football content. We're meeting

up with Kate and Hauser and some other transfers of Illinois football tomorrow morning.

Also have plenty more content leading into the Alana basketball postseason and leading into

Alana spring ball as well. But for Kyle Tosk, I'm Jeremy Warner. Everybody have a great day.

Take care of each other. We'll talk to you next time right here on the Alana Quarer podcast.

Bye everybody.

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