When Illinois coach Brad Underwood lined up non-conference games against the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Duke, the goal was to find out how his guys stack up and where they need to improve.
Now that the first results are in – No. 25 Illinois lost 100-87 Wednesday night to No. 8 Alabama – the goal shifts to making the actual improvements. That’s the No. 1 agenda Saturday afternoon as Illinois (3-1) hosts Maryland Eastern Shore (2-5) in Champaign.
“I think there’s two things that happen after a loss,” Underwood said. “Either you accept it or you learn from it. We’re choosing to learn. The day after (the Alabama loss) was a really positive day for us. Kind of a lot of reflection, a lot of learning.”
What needs to be learned? For example, a 13-of-24 showing at the free-throw line won’t win many high-level games.
“You can’t miss free throws,” Underwood said. “You can’t give ’em 30-plus points in transition. You can’t do some of the silly things we did. Jumping off one foot (on drives). Getting beat (in the) middle. We gave up 12 points off middle drives out of the corner. That is a fundamental mistake for us. That’s something we’ve worked on since June. Those are things that we can actually get better on quickly.
“When we do that, then we become that team that is really good.”
On the flip side, Underwood lauded junior guard Kylan Boswell’s defense as Alabama preseason all-American point guard Mark Sears did not score in his 21 minutes. And while Illini freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis finished with 6 turnovers (1 fewer than Alabama), Underwood focused on his first half when the projected NBA first-round pick scored 13 of his 15 points and handed out two of his six assists.
“I thought he was as good a player as there was on the court in the first half,” Underwood said. “I thought he was just dominant in the ball screen in the first half – and you’re doing that against a team that applies a ton of pressure and a team that has an elite shot-blocker. Against drop coverages, he’s as good a player as there is at making reads, making passes, spraying it, scoring it.
“We got away from him a little bit in the second half. That was my fault.”
UMES is one of the hardest-working teams in the college basketball business. Saturday’s game marks the Hawks’ eighth of the season – tying them for the most in the country – and kicks off a four-games-in-eight-days stretch where UMES also travels to Arkansas, Little Rock and two-time defending champion UConn.
Slashing junior guard Ketron “KC” Shaw makes the Hawks’ offense go – and Illinois might not see a one-man band like this again. The reigning MEAC Player of the Week entered Friday’s action as the nation’s No. 11 scorer (23.4 points per game) while also pacing his squad in rebounding (5.9) and assists (4.3).
He has launched 25.3 percent of UMES’ field-goal attempts (107 of 423) and taken exactly half of the team’s free throws (69 of 138).
When Shaw isn’t flipping shots at the rim, then it’s usually 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior Christopher Flippin’s turn. He averages 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds and put up a double-double (20 points, 13 rebounds) against Penn on Nov. 7.
“I really like this team’s offensive ability,” Underwood said. “They’ve got guys who can really go get it. We’ve got to sit down and guard the ball.”
