Saturday, January 21, 2006

Ilinois 58; Northwestern 47

I'll be honest, because of the UCLA game and the Kings game, I didn't see a whole lot of this one, but I did notice a couple of things. First, the Illini aren't really going to be bothered by zone defenses. We have too many shooters, and they really move the ball well enough to get open shots. Second, man, that defense is awesome. When you hold the conference's leading score to one field goal, well, that's pretty good.

The box score will tell you that this was a step back for Pruitt and Randle, but don't let the numbers fool you. This was a zone defense team, and the big men just aren't going to get big points against those types of teams. Pay more attention to Vukusic's numbers, or lack thereof, where Randle is concerned. Remember, defense is going to be this team's calling card, and they did nothing to disprove that tonight.

This game opened up the soft spot in the Illini schedule, and they took care of business. Can't ask for much more.

No comments: