Brad Underwood had plenty of reasons to crack a smile.
Illinois rode a healthy rotation to a second-half comeback win over visiting Ohio State on Sunday, and the Fighting Illini finally may have reached the other side of a challenging stretch.
Though they dropped five spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, the No. 23 Illini are feeling optimistic as they kick off a two-game road trip Wednesday against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.
Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis and center Tomislav Ivisic, both recruited from overseas last spring, are central to what Illinois (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) does on a nightly basis. Jakucionis injured his hand and missed two games last month, including an upset loss to Southern California.
Jakucionis also sat for most of Illinois’ 80-78 loss at Michigan State on Jan. 19 due to foul trouble. Shortly after that game, Ivisic contracted mononucleosis. Illinois dropped two of the three games he missed.
Illinois was back to full strength Sunday, and it showed in an 87-79 win over the Buckeyes.
“I was going to play it by ear and see how (Ivisic) felt,” Underwood said afterward. “It puts a smile on my face to have him back.”
Ivisic contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes, while freshman Morez Johnson Jr. broke out for 14 points and a career-high 15 boards. Fellow freshman Will Riley poured in 20 of his 24 points during the second half, and Jakucionis supplied eight points and seven assists.
Riley and Ivisic, who were a combined 9-for-10 after halftime, were the biggest reasons the Illini outshot the Buckeyes 64.3 percent to 30.6 percent in the final 20 minutes.
At 51.7 percent for the game, this was Illinois’ first time making more than half its field goals since Jan. 2 at Oregon. It also clamped down defensively in a way it hadn’t been able to when Ivisic was unwell.
“I thought it was a game that resembled us first semester,” Underwood said. “Downhill driving, getting fouled, getting to the line. Tomi opens all of that up.”
Rutgers (11-11, 4-7) struggled against two versatile big men Saturday in a 66-63 loss to Michigan, and it could be a similar story this week against the 7-foot-1, 255-pound Ivisic and the 6-9, 255-pound Johnson.
The Scarlet Knights twice pulled within two points late in the second half, but Michigan bigs Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin carried their team the rest of the way. The Wolverines beat the Scarlet Knights 30-16 in paint points.
Rutgers got a career-high 20 points and four steals from guard Jamichael Davis in its third loss in four games. Tyson Acuff added 14 points, and both he and Davis made four 3-pointers.
For a Rutgers team that lost center Emmanuel Ogbole to a season-ending knee injury and once again could be without star freshman guard Dylan Harper (high ankle sprain), Wednesday represents one of its final chances to make a statement win at home and stay afloat in the Big Ten standings.
“They’re all so important,” coach Steve Pikiell said. “I know what it looks like, but we’ve been there before and we’ve got to figure it out.
“And I do like the improvement of our guys. I think we’re a better basketball team, much better. … We’re improving on (the) defensive end, we’re improving in our communication, we’re improving in a lot of things.”
–Field Level Media
