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Mar. 25—On the courts that count, Kentucky still owns Illinois.
And this will be the lasting memory — an 84-75 March Madness giveaway in Milwaukee on Sunday evening — of a 2024-25 Illini men's basketball season that might have been.
Kentucky stands 5-0 against Illinois in these NCAA matchups, dating to early World War II when the UI's Whiz Kids, as sophomores, came up short, 46-44, despite 15 points from Ken Menke and 13 from Jack Smiley.
Flip ahead to 1949 and 1951 when Adolph Rupp's NCAA champions used big-man advantages to move past Illinois in national semifinal games in Madison Square Garden. Wildcat Alex Groza fouled out Wally Osterkorn and tallied 27 points in a coasting victory in 1949, and 7-foot Bill Spivey fouled out the UI's Bob Peterson en route to 28 points and 16 rebounds in a 76-74 squeaker two years later ... despite 21 points and 10 rebounds from Champaign's Rod Fletcher and 20 points from Big Ten MVP Don Sunderlage.
Such is life where Illinois and eight-time NCAA champion Kentucky are concerned. The next NCAA showdown in 1984 found Illini center Efrem Winters spending the previous night with trainer Rod Cardinal working on his injured ankle, and he could barely jump in a a narrow 54-51 loss to Kentucky and twin towers Melvin Turpin and Sam Bowie. This March game was their second clash that season, Kentucky winning on Christmas Eve in Champaign on a short bank shot with one second left on the clock.
That game is remembered for the snowstorm that prevented the officials from traveling, and the trio of Charlie Due, Bob Hildebrand and Bill Mitz were picked from the stands to call the game ... and did quite well, according to Kentucky coach Joe Hall.
Sunday's game wasn't so close. Brad Underwood's athletes seemed unprepared for the start of both halves. Four Illini turnovers fueled an opening 13-5 blitz during which Illinois launched just five shots to Kentucky's 12. It was soon 18-10 and 25-15 before four inside goals by Kylan Boswell helped pull Illinois within 37-32 at half.
Persistent problems
The headache returned when the second half began, and Illinois found itself bedeviled by turnovers, deflected shot attempts and six straight misses while Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh caught fire as the Wildcats nailed their first six shots. Koby Brea, a four-year standout at Dayton, worked his way toward 23 points as the spread reached 70-54.
Illinois surged within 74-68 briefly — a stretch without miscues — but boarded the bus for home pondering a second straight game with 14 turnovers, of which 13 were live-ball mistakes that permitted 26 Kentucky points on mostly breakaways. And the UI's half-court defense was repeatedly penetrated, contributing to a 83.8-point defensive average in the last five games.
Closing thoughts
Both of the Illini's likely NBA draft prospects were inefficient. Freshman Will Riley was smothered by his older rivals (six of Kentucky's top eight scorers are seniors) and was limited to a single field goal after producing double figures in 12 of the previous 13 games. Kasparas Jakucionis had six turnovers for the third straight game, handed out just two assists and his 2-for-9 long-range shooting falls in line with his 21 percent accuracy over the last 15 games.
In mid-game maneuvering, Underwood moved Boswell to the point, and the Illini junior responded with a 23-point, six-assist effort. Tomislav Ivisic was right behind with 19 points, and his six rebounds helped the Illini outboard Kentucky 44-36.
But the story of the game was Illinois ball-handling and defensive inefficiency, not surprising in light of similar breakdowns in losses to Michigan State by 14, Wisconsin by 21, Duke by 43 and Maryland by 23 since Feb. 15.
Former Illini Deon Thomas said it best: "It's a hard pill to swallow when you beat yourself."
And so, we are left to wonder: Will any of us live long enough to see Illinois shatter this 84-year Kentucky hex on the March hardwood?
Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at .
Continue reading...
And this will be the lasting memory — an 84-75 March Madness giveaway in Milwaukee on Sunday evening — of a 2024-25 Illini men's basketball season that might have been.
Kentucky stands 5-0 against Illinois in these NCAA matchups, dating to early World War II when the UI's Whiz Kids, as sophomores, came up short, 46-44, despite 15 points from Ken Menke and 13 from Jack Smiley.
Flip ahead to 1949 and 1951 when Adolph Rupp's NCAA champions used big-man advantages to move past Illinois in national semifinal games in Madison Square Garden. Wildcat Alex Groza fouled out Wally Osterkorn and tallied 27 points in a coasting victory in 1949, and 7-foot Bill Spivey fouled out the UI's Bob Peterson en route to 28 points and 16 rebounds in a 76-74 squeaker two years later ... despite 21 points and 10 rebounds from Champaign's Rod Fletcher and 20 points from Big Ten MVP Don Sunderlage.
Such is life where Illinois and eight-time NCAA champion Kentucky are concerned. The next NCAA showdown in 1984 found Illini center Efrem Winters spending the previous night with trainer Rod Cardinal working on his injured ankle, and he could barely jump in a a narrow 54-51 loss to Kentucky and twin towers Melvin Turpin and Sam Bowie. This March game was their second clash that season, Kentucky winning on Christmas Eve in Champaign on a short bank shot with one second left on the clock.
That game is remembered for the snowstorm that prevented the officials from traveling, and the trio of Charlie Due, Bob Hildebrand and Bill Mitz were picked from the stands to call the game ... and did quite well, according to Kentucky coach Joe Hall.
Sunday's game wasn't so close. Brad Underwood's athletes seemed unprepared for the start of both halves. Four Illini turnovers fueled an opening 13-5 blitz during which Illinois launched just five shots to Kentucky's 12. It was soon 18-10 and 25-15 before four inside goals by Kylan Boswell helped pull Illinois within 37-32 at half.
Persistent problems
The headache returned when the second half began, and Illinois found itself bedeviled by turnovers, deflected shot attempts and six straight misses while Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh caught fire as the Wildcats nailed their first six shots. Koby Brea, a four-year standout at Dayton, worked his way toward 23 points as the spread reached 70-54.
Illinois surged within 74-68 briefly — a stretch without miscues — but boarded the bus for home pondering a second straight game with 14 turnovers, of which 13 were live-ball mistakes that permitted 26 Kentucky points on mostly breakaways. And the UI's half-court defense was repeatedly penetrated, contributing to a 83.8-point defensive average in the last five games.
Closing thoughts
Both of the Illini's likely NBA draft prospects were inefficient. Freshman Will Riley was smothered by his older rivals (six of Kentucky's top eight scorers are seniors) and was limited to a single field goal after producing double figures in 12 of the previous 13 games. Kasparas Jakucionis had six turnovers for the third straight game, handed out just two assists and his 2-for-9 long-range shooting falls in line with his 21 percent accuracy over the last 15 games.
In mid-game maneuvering, Underwood moved Boswell to the point, and the Illini junior responded with a 23-point, six-assist effort. Tomislav Ivisic was right behind with 19 points, and his six rebounds helped the Illini outboard Kentucky 44-36.
But the story of the game was Illinois ball-handling and defensive inefficiency, not surprising in light of similar breakdowns in losses to Michigan State by 14, Wisconsin by 21, Duke by 43 and Maryland by 23 since Feb. 15.
Former Illini Deon Thomas said it best: "It's a hard pill to swallow when you beat yourself."
And so, we are left to wonder: Will any of us live long enough to see Illinois shatter this 84-year Kentucky hex on the March hardwood?
Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at .
Continue reading...
