Big Ten Tournament: The Future Looks Bright For Illinois
Posted by Walker Carey on March 13th, 2014Walker Carey is an RTC Correspondent. He filed this report after Thursday’s first round Big Ten Tournament game between Illinois and Indiana in Indianapolis.
Both Illinois and Indiana entered Thursday afternoon’s match-up with winning the conference tournament as their only hope of earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament, so Illinois’ 64-54 victory might be viewed as a ticket to play top-seeded Michigan in the quarterfinals on Friday. While true at some level, it’s misleading at another — Illinois showed in today’s win through a variety of signs that it will once again be a force to be reckoned with in the Big Ten as soon as next season. The player of the game for the Illini on Thursday afternoon was junior guard Tracy Abrams. Abrams, who entered the game averaging 10.5 points per contest, exploded for a game-high 25 points (17 of which came in the second half). The Chicago native also showcased his ability to hit big shots by nailing a huge three-pointer with 2:06 to play that increased the Illini’s lead to four and all but secured the victory, as Indiana scored just two more points over the remainder of the game.
Abrams and the Illini Appear to Have a Bright Future (B.Tse)
While Abrams led the charge in the scoring column for Illinois, John Groce’s squad also received contributions from several other underclassmen. Junior big man Nnanna Egwu was limited offensively – he managed just two points on 1-of-8 shooting – but he found a way to impact the game in other facets by collecting seven rebounds and blocking five shots. Redshirt junior guard Rayvonte Rice added 13 points and helped key the defensive effort that forced Indiana into an 0-of-10 performance from behind the arc in the second half. Freshmen guards Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn showed a bit of why John Groce felt comfortable inserting them into the starting lineup back in early February. Hill finished Thursday’s win with eight points and four rebounds, while showcasing his outside shooting prowess by knocking down both of his three-point attempts. Nunn added 10 points to the winning effort and was primarily responsible for the outstanding defensive effort on Indiana star guard Yogi Ferrell. Ferrell finished the afternoon just 3-of-13 from the field and 2-of-9 from three.
Illinois will likely be heavy underdogs against Michigan tomorrow. The Wolverines just beat the Illini by 31 in Champaign nine days ago. Illinois is not expected to advance any further in the Big Ten Tournament and it will almost certainly be playing in the NIT next week, but the emergence of its underclassmen shows why the Illini faithful should not be down on the program in year two of the John Groce era. It is also worth mentioning that Illinois adds talented transfers Ahmad Starks (from Oregon State), Aaron Cosby (from Seton Hall), and Darius Paul (from Western Michigan) next season. Illinois may not have given its fans a desirable season this year, but it certainly appears that 2013-14 was just a blip on the radar for what should be a successful program for years to come.
