No Kasparas Jakucionis. That was the story heading into Illinois’ (12-3, 4-1) Wednesday night matchup with Penn State (12-4, 2-3), but it wasn’t an issue. Even without the star freshman guard, the Illini ended their four-game losing streak to the Nittany Lions with a 91-52 win in front of a packed State Farm Center.
Jakucionis injury update
Jakcuionis went through a pregame shootaround but couldn’t play, ruled out with a left forearm injury only a few minutes before tip-off.
“(Jakucionis) had some inflammation and soreness,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “I haven’t talked to the doctors yet. It’s something that has limited him in the two days prior, coming back from the Washington trip.”
In his place, freshman forward Will Riley entered the starting lineup. It was Riley’s first start of the season.
“The insertion of Will into the lineup gave us a lot of size on the perimeter with (him) and Tre,” Underwood said.
Humrichous, White lead first half Illini charge
Junior guard Tre White and graduate student forward Ben Humrichous were on fire in the first half. The Illini outscored the Nittany Lions 45-21, and White and Humrichous accounted for 31 of those points.
Humrichous was incredible in the first half, scoring 19 points on 7-13 shooting, draining five of his nine three-point attempts. The fans at State Farm Center loved to see him finally find his groove after struggling with his shot during most games this season. A pair of back-to-back threes really got the Champaign crowd going.
“Give ‘em another one, Big Ben,” shouted a fan behind the scorer’s table.
Humrichous also grabbed eight rebounds in the first half, which is more than he’s had in a full game all season. His aggressiveness and energy were apparent early on both ends of the floor, and he didn’t turn the ball over once.
“KJ brings a great rebounding ability, and when I just think about ways to continue to help this team, rebounding is something that the numbers weren’t super high at the beginning of the year,” Humrichous said. “Tonight, it’s something that I’m just continuing to work on, being an avid rebounder, being very aggressive with rebounds. That’s not something anybody’s ever going to be selfish with.”
White also had a hot hand in the first half, scoring 12 points on 4-7 shooting, including an alley-oop from sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic. He only turned it over once, making it a very efficient first half for White as well.
While Humrichous and White shouldered much of the offensive load, Riley and Ivisic went scoreless in the first half.
Konan Niederhauser: A giant problem
Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State’s 7-foot junior center, was a defensive problem in the first half. Konan Niederhauser had five blocks, including a massive swat of a Humrichous shot attempt, sending the ball into the crowd.
Konan Niederhauser almost acted as an Ivisic deterrent inside. Ivisic only got two shots in the opening 20 minutes, and he didn’t make either. He also only grabbed two rebounds in the first half compared to Konan Niederhauser’s four.
Freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr., however, picked up the slack. Johnson, a much more physical big in the paint than Ivisic, scored eight first-half points on 3-3 shooting. He also picked up five first-half rebounds.
Illini work inside to close game
The Illini shot 21 threes in the first half, which accounted for more than half of their shots, but they only made six. Humrichous accounted for five of those. The rest of the team didn’t shoot well, including Riley and sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who each missed three.
In the second half, however, the game plan seemed to change for Illinois. The Illini worked inside for most of the final 20 minutes. Twenty-nine of their 39 shot attempts came from inside the arc, and it worked. The Illini outscored the Nittany Lions 46 to 31 in the second half, including 22 points in the paint, to secure the win.
Johnson shined in the paint, scoring 12 points in the second half, including multiple rim-rattling dunks to the delight of the fans. Overall, Johnson finished with a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. It was his second career double-double.
“It’s a surreal moment,” Johnson said. “I’ve been committed since my sophomore year (of high school), so it felt great to get one of those games under my belt, and I’m excited.”
Penn State’s leading scorer and the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Ace Baldwin Jr., didn’t play at all in the second half after going 0-6 from the field in 15 minutes during the first half. A fall during the game seemed to cause some sort of injury to the Nittany Lions graduate student star guard.
“We’ll get him back,” said Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades. “The fall didn’t help him, so he had been battling a couple things. Just couldn’t go and wasn’t going to push it. We’ll get him back and get him with the (doctor) first thing in the morning.”
What’s next?
The Illini are now 4-1 in the Big Ten, and a win without their best player over a more experienced team is a statement win. Add that to their recent blowout of No. 9 Oregon, and Illinois is in a very good spot to start conference play. They are the team to beat in the Big Ten.
“This team really prides itself on our defensive abilities, and you saw tonight, when we really guard, we have the ability to get out in transition, and our offense really thrives on our defensive abilities,” Humrichous said. “We’ve known this team has a really, really high ceiling, and it’s a team that’s floor is just continuing to raise.”
Illinois’ next game is an 11 a.m. matchup against USC back at State Farm Center on Saturday.
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