Illinois dominates Maryland, picks up 8th straight victory

On Tuesday, January 20th, Illini Nation received the news that senior leader Kylan Boswell fractured a bone in his hand and would miss at least a month. This was devastating news on all accounts. Obviously for Kylan, who will miss a good chunk of his senior season, and for the team, who will miss their glue as they head into the most difficult stretch of the season with an abundance of quad 1 opportunities. Yesterday, Illinois took on Maryland, and no one really knew what to expect without Boswell in the lineup. Junior guard Jake Davis got called to be Kylan's replacement in the starting lineup, and it was a good decision. Davis finished the game with 4 3's, but his impact goes well beyond his ability to make 3's. He serves as the connector in this offense, ensuring the ball keeps moving. Davis is always thinking ahead when he receives the ball and never turns it over. Additionally, he had an impressive performance on the boards, securing 3 extra possessions for the Illini on the offensive glass. It's no coincidence the metrics say Illinois' best offensive lineup is with Jake Davis on the floor.

This game started out really fast. Diggy Coit hit a couple of highly contested jumpers early on, and Illinois could not buy a stop even when the defense was good. Andrej Stojakovic will be guarding the opponent's best perimeter player while Boswell is out, and he did a phenomenal job on Coit. It was easily his best all-around performance as an Illini, and it should be a sign of encouragement for his ability to guard Braden Smith this Saturday. It was 13-11 Maryland at the first media timeout. The Illini and the Terrapins kept trading baskets until it was 26-22 Maryland with 8 minutes remaining in the first half. The Illini defense finally turned up, and the offense kept picking Maryland's 2-3 zone apart. The Illini took a 25-4 run to the break, and a 17-point lead felt like it was what Illinois needed to ice the game away at half.

The second half was kind of boring, and I mean that in a good way. Illinois never let Maryland even remotely back into the game, and you never want to see a quad 3 home game get tight in the final minutes. It was nice to relax and enjoy complete domination. Illinois won 89-70, but even that score is misleading because Maryland closed the game on an 11-3 run in the walk-on minutes. Illinois is off to the best start in the Brad Underwood era. The Illini are sitting at 16-3 (7-1) and will be playing with house money coming up on a difficult stretch.

One of the key questions leading up to the game after Tuesday's news was "who would step up?" Many people thought it would be plug and play minutes for Mihailo Petrovic, but that never made sense because Illinois didn't need an on-ball presence with Keaton Wagler. Wagler had an off-night shooting but still flirted with a triple-double. Illinois simply can't afford to not play Wagler on the ball. In Petrovic's three minutes on the floor in the first half, he continued his struggles at the rim, forced up an early shot clock three, got completely lost in transition, which led to a wide-open Maryland 3-pointer, and caused David Mirkovic to angrily slam the ball on the ground with Underwood looking displeased. Petrovic sat the remainder of the game. I don't think he will be the solution in Boswell's absence.

It was Andrej Stojakovic who stepped up then. We all knew he was the one who had to step up defensively and guard the other team's best player, but he also stepped up offensively. He was able to get into some more iso situations as this team now needs more ways to score. Stojakovic was recruited because of his ability to get to the rim and score through traffic. He hit a career-high 4 3's, so maybe the shot can be a little better the rest of the season, but I wouldn't bank on it. I would, however, expect Andrej to get some more chances to score in one-on-one scenarios and show the country how prolific of a scorer he can be. Stojakovic finished the game with 30 points on 9-18 shooting. If you remember back in the 2023-2024 season, Marcus Domask struggled out of the gate. It wasn't until Terrence Shannon Jr. missed time that we really saw Domask flourish and be a staple in the offense even after TSJ returned. I really believe the only reason Illinois beat Iowa State in the Sweet 16 was because the time TSJ missed allowed other Illini to rise to the occasion. Terrence picked up his 4th foul in that Sweet 16 game with 12 minutes remaining, and Illinois did not collapse because they knew what to do without him. I wonder if we might see a similar experience this March where an Andrej Stojakovic steps up and basically wins you an NCAA Tournament game. While the Kylan Boswell injury is not ideal, I don't think it will kill the season for Illinois, and Andrej's performance tonight backs that up.

The Illini frontcourt had a solid game as well. It was the full David Mirkovic experience, as there was a lot of good surrounded by some bad. Mirkovic had 15 points and 9 rebounds, but 3 turnovers as well. Overall, I was pleased with how he played. Tomislav Ivisic looked as comfortable as he has been all season. He only had 9 points, but his processing in the post was much faster. Tomi had 3 assists. Up until the Northwestern game, it looked like everything was delayed for him. He was constantly a step behind, but I think he is officially caught up. Tomi was also active on the glass, finishing with 7 rebounds. His twin brother had an eventful night to say the least. Z picked up a foul and a flagrant foul in just under two minutes into the game. He then picked up another flagrant foul in the second half. Many, including myself, thought this meant he was ejected, but apparently, it takes three flagrant 1 fouls to be ejected now. While those flagrant fouls won't hurt you against a team of Maryland's caliber, it will this weekend in Mackey. It could also lead to an exit in the Round of 32 in March. He just has to be smarter in the future. Ben Humrichous had some solid minutes as well. He went 2 for 3 from beyond the arc, so hopefully that helps him get out of the slump he recently has been in.

Illinois passed test number one without Kylan Boswell, and they should be proud of themselves. They can't be proud for too long as the most difficult stretch of the season is here. It all begins on Saturday against #4 Purdue in Mackey Arena.