MILWAUKEE — Not that bad.
Certainly not that great.
Illinois’ season ends at 22-13 after the Midwest Region’s No. 6 seed got owned by No. 3 seed Kentucky 84-75 in an NCAA Tournament second-round smack-around at Fiserv Forum.
A completely turned-over Illini roster had some good moments during the season, but matching the consistency of last year’s Elite Eight squad simply never happened. Perhaps we can score the whole exercise a mild success.
The Illini dug themselves into a significant early hole, with turnovers being the main bugaboo and freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis continuing a season-long struggle in this department. He had half of the team’s eight giveaways by the time it was 25-13 in favor of the Wildcats. But the Illini didn’t turn it over at all over the last eight-plus minutes of the first half, controlling that segment of the game with a 19-12 charge to close it out trailing by only five.
See how that works? Value the basketball.
Alas, the second-half start was even more dreadful. Seemingly — and inexplicably — low on energy, the Illini watched Kentucky storm out of the chute on a 10-0 run, punctuated by 7-footer Amari Williams’ steal of a lazy Will Riley pass and gigantic throw-down at the other end. Two minutes later, Williams blocked Tomislav Ivisic’s three-point attempt, again dribbled all the way to the rim and again dunked thunderously for a 53-39 lead. What a sight.
Kentucky’s lead reached 16 with 14:49 to go, but the Illini cut it to nine three minutes later on a Jakucionis three. That only got the Wildcats’ 44% three-point shooter, Koby Brea going, and that was all she wrote. Brea finished with a team-high 23.
There was a little bit of bad luck, too, for the Illini. For instance, Wildcats guard Lamont Butler came in with exactly one three-pointer made since February 1. So what did he do in the early going of the most important game of the season to date? Splash in a pair of threes. Of course.
The Wildcats (24-11) got what they deserved, though, and that’s a trip to Indianapolis to take on SEC rival Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
An 11-2 Illinois run got the score to 74-68 with 1:36 left, but hopes were extinguished from there.
Jakucionis and Riley — potential first-round draft picks in June — were held to 13 and five points, respectively. Kylan Boswell scored 23 and Ivisic 19 for the Illini.