Thank goodness it didn't count.
On a sold-out Friday night at State Farm Center, in the first home game since the Final Four, the No. 3 team in the country got run off its own floor for 20 minutes. Baylor scored 63 points in the first half. Sixty-three. The Bears hit 11 of their 18 threes, rebounded more than half of their own first-half misses, and led by as many as 22 before the break.
Then Illinois got up off the mat, held Baylor without a single three in the second half, and clawed all the way back to within three in the final minutes. It fell short, 95-91. And by the time the horn sounded, the bigger story wasn't the score. It was who was in the locker room instead of on the bench.
The First Half: No Defense, No Boards
It went wrong from the very first possession. Baylor ran a guard-to-guard screen and Kayden Mingo walked in for a layup. Underwood said afterward that Quentin Coleman and Ethan Brown didn't recognize a switch the team had practiced over and over.
It didn't get much better. Isaac Williams IV came off Baylor's bench and torched Illinois, scoring 14 of the Bears' first 24 points and 19 in the half on 7-of-10 shooting. Brett Decker Jr. hit five threes for 15 more. Per 247Sports' Kyle Tausk, Baylor scored about 1.62 points per possession in the first half, with poor on-ball defense, rotations, and transition defense all to blame.
Then there were the rebounds. Baylor won the first-half glass 25-15, and the News-Gazette counted 15 Baylor second-chance points before halftime. The Illini simply weren't boxing out. Coleman put it bluntly.
"They killed us on the offensive rebounds in the first half."
— Quentin Coleman, to The News-GazetteJason Jakstys was even more honest about the start, telling reporters the Illini were "kind of just walking in the park, and they hit us right away."
Underwood traced it back to one thing. He told the News-Gazette that about 90 percent of the team's mistakes are simple communication, and that in about half the timeout huddles, players said they couldn't hear each other on the floor. That's a problem he also saw at Cincinnati last weekend.
Look at that defensive rebounding line again. Baylor grabbed 22 offensive rebounds. Illinois grabbed only 17 defensive rebounds all night. When the other team gets more of its own misses than you do, you're going to have a long night.
The Comeback
Whatever got said at halftime worked. Ethan Brown opened the second half with a dunk and a three on back-to-back trips, and Baylor coach Scott Drew immediately called timeout at 63-49. The Bears were done hitting threes. They went 0-for-7 in the second half after going 11-for-18 in the first.
Stefan Vaaks, who missed all three of his first-half threes, caught fire. He scored 16 of his 18 points after the break. Illinois turned Baylor turnovers into points, crashed the glass harder, and chipped away. With just under four minutes left, Jake Davis hit a three to cut it to six. Seconds later, Vaaks buried another to make it a three-point game.
That was as close as it got. Baylor made enough plays down the stretch to hold on. But Illinois won the second half 47-32, and according to the News-Gazette, even Drew credited the Illini's hustle and effort on 50-50 balls to start the half.
The Injury Report
Three Veterans Hurt, Mirkovic Back in a Boot
Andrej Stojakovic: Hit his head on the floor after a hard fall in the second half. Went to the locker room and did not return. He had 15 points at the time.
Zvonimir Ivisic: Also hit his head on the floor after a hard second-half fall. Did not return after 7 minutes.
Tomislav Ivisic: Grabbed his left knee and limped off midway through the second half. Underwood said he "dinged" the knee. He made it back to the bench but didn't return to the game.
David Mirkovic: Didn't play, as expected, but showed up in a walking boot on a scooter. Underwood said it is not a setback and a scan showed the screw from his August surgery is in the right place. But he also said Illinois will be without Mirk "for a little while," including some regular-season games.
As of Friday night, Underwood said he hadn't yet talked with the team doctor about Stojakovic and the twins. Two players hitting their heads in the same game is the kind of thing that makes you nervous, and we'll update this as soon as there's real news.
With both Ivisic twins out down the stretch, Jakstys played 14 minutes, grabbed five rebounds, and was on the floor for the key minutes late. Remember, this is the same kid who lost his entire season to a blood clot last winter. Good for him.
Who Stood Out
Quentin Coleman — 20 PTS · 7 REB · 4 AST
The freshman's home debut was the bright spot. He had 14 points at halftime despite picking up two quick fouls, and led Illinois in scoring and rebounding. That's two games, two strong performances.
The Rest of the Box
Zavier Zens 5 pts, 2 reb (12 min) · Lincoln Williams 4 pts, 4 reb, 2 stl (16 min) · Jason Jakstys 2 pts, 5 reb, 1 stl (14 min) · Tomislav Ivisic 2 pts, 4 reb, 0-6 FG (20 min, knee) · Zvonimir Ivisic 2 pts, 1 blk (7 min, head) · Landon Davis 0 pts (4 min) · David Mirkovic DNP (foot)
Baylor's Damage
Isaac Williams IV 28 pts on 11-of-20 off the bench · Kayden Mingo 24 pts, 4 ast · Brett Decker Jr. 15 pts (5-9 3PT) · Isaac Celiscar 15 pts, 8 reb · Juslin Bodo Bodo 10 reb, 3 blk · Dylan Mingo 8 ast
Four Takeaways
1. This was a wake-up call, and Underwood said so
Underwood told The Daily Illini the game was "very much a wake-up call." He praised Baylor's guards and said if the first half hadn't ended, Illinois would have kept getting punched. Through two exhibitions, Illinois has given up 191 points. That won't play in the Big Ten.
2. Rebounding without Mirkovic is a real problem
Mirkovic was Illinois' leading rebounder last season, and he's going to miss regular-season games. With Tomislav going 0-for-6 and grabbing four boards before the knee, and Zvonimir playing only seven minutes, Illinois had no answer for Bodo Bodo and Celiscar, who had four offensive rebounds each. Somebody has to own the glass until Mirk is back.
3. The freshmen keep showing up
Coleman scored 20. Morillo hit both of his threes. Lincoln Williams had four rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes. Zens hit a three. On Illinois Loyalty, the reaction to the young guys was mostly positive. One fan pointed out that Illinois won the second half 47-32 with what was essentially its "B" team, and that it played with a lot of heart.
4. Context matters
Baylor is good. Per WCIA, the Bears beat No. 1 Florida in an exhibition the Sunday before. Illinois played without Mirkovic and lost three more veterans during the game. This loss won't be on anybody's record. But the first-half effort is the part that should bother everybody, and it's the part that's 100% fixable.
The Fan Verdict
The postgame thread was split between frustration and perspective. The biggest complaints were defense and rebounding, with one poster noting Illinois has allowed 191 points in two games, and another saying this team is a real threat only if the effort is there defensively and on the boards.
But plenty of fans liked what they saw from Coleman, Vaaks, Stojakovic, and Lincoln Williams, and a few gave Jakstys credit for his biggest minutes yet. A common sentiment by the end of the night: forget the score, just get healthy.
Up Next: UIC, Then the Real Thing
Illinois closes the preseason against UIC on Wednesday, October 28, at 7 p.m. CT at State Farm Center (B1G+). The regular season opens against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday, November 2 on BTN.
The UIC game just got a lot more important, and not because of the opponent. Everyone will be watching the injury report this week. If Stojakovic and the twins are cleared, expect Underwood to spend Wednesday drilling communication and box-outs. If they're not, Jakstys, Landon Davis, and the freshmen are about to get a lot more experience, fast.
I-L-L. 🧡Reporting compiled from the official FightingIllini.com box score and recap, The News-Gazette, The Daily Illini, 247Sports (Illini Inquirer), The Champaign Room, Sports Illustrated (Illinois on SI), WCIA, On3, and fan discussion on IllinoisLoyalty.com.