March Madness: Takeaways from Illinois basketball vs. Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament second round
Illinois basketball's Brad Underwood and players talk preparation for Kentucky
For the first time in 41 years, Illinois plays Kentucky. Here's what coach Brad Underwood and his players said Saturday.
MILWAUKEE - With two minutes remaining, Illinois basketball in a position to stage a comeback.
Down eight, a stop and some baskets would have put pressure on Kentucky.
Kylan Boswell's basket cut the lead to six. Hope was still there. Andrew Carr sapped that hop with a basket and a foul that put Kentucky back up eight with 1:13 to go.
Illinois couldn't get any closer.
A Kasparas Jakucionis' desperation 3-pointer was slapped away and it went off his leg, allowing Kentucky to waste more time. The Wildcats won the free throw contest and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with a 84-75 win over Illinois.
Here are our takeaways from Sunday's tilt in Milwaukee where Illinois and Kentucky squared off for a berth in the Sweet Sixteen.
Sloppy first half puts Illinois in a hole
Illinois averages just over 11 turnovers per game. The Illini had eight in the first half on Sunday.
Kentucky scored 14 points off those turnovers. The Wildcats led 37-32 at halftime.
That was the main reason the Illini trailed at halftime. Their offense got going. The defense found ways to get stops on the other end. Illinois chipped away at Kentucky's lead.
Illinois had found ways to rally this season behind Jakucionis, Tomislav Ivisic and Will Riley. Those three helped Illinois get close, but Kylan Boswell carried the offense with his 10 points at the break.
Illinois had no answer for Koby Brea
In the second half, Illinois trailed by as many as 16. The Illini responded with 3-point baskets by Boswell, Jakucionis and Ivisic.
The Illini had life. They trailed by just nine.
Enter: graduate guard Koby Brea.
In a crucial one-minute stretch, Brea scored eight points. Another bucket just under the nine-minute mark put Kentucky up 16 again with complete control of the game.
With eight minutes left in the game, Kentucky was shooting a nuclear 78% from the floor since the start of the second half. A big part of that was Brea, who scored 14 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
Illinois couldn't respond on either end. Brea had them in submission.
Illinois now begins a waiting period
What happens now as the Illini season ends?
Head coach Brad Underwood has to wait.
Illinois has to await decisions from Jakucionis and Will Riley. Will they enter the NBA Draft after successful freshman seasons? Or, will Underwood convince them to stick around as Illinois looks for another lengthy March run with Underwood at the helm?
Those decisions will come soon. It will dictate how Underwood attacks the transfer portal.
Illinois saw what happens when it has a team that's older. The 2024 Elite Eight team had Marcus Domask, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Dain Dainja. That experience lent itself to a deep tournament run.
This Illini team, with a Jakucionis, Boswell and Ivisic core, could do the same with some more time together.