Illinois coach Brad Underwood carries an objective for his team as it pivots from visiting a Top 25 foe from Texas to hosting an unranked opponent from those parts.
Unable to emerge from a 20-point halftime hole at 16th-ranked Texas Tech on Tuesday, the third-ranked Fighting Illini plan to reinforce fundamentals as Sam Houston visits Champaign, Ill., on Friday night.
“We have to understand what winning looks like,” Underwood said. “Winning is not scoring. We’ll always score points. We’ll find a way to do that. We shot 50% (Tuesday). Winning is rebounding, taking care of the ball and making free throws.”
Illinois (2-1) outscored the Red Raiders by 14 in the second half in an eventual 84-78 defeat. Andrej Stojakovic, who contributed 14 of his 18 points after intermission, has a pulse on how the Illini must attack against Sam Houston (2-1) and beyond.
It starts with the game tape from the final 20 minutes at Texas Tech.
“We played with intensity, with pace,” Stojakovic said. “When that happens in the second half, you go back and look at yourself and say, ‘We could have done that in the first half as well,’ for a possibly different outcome. You never want to leave the game with a “What if?” and I think there was doubt in the first half.”
Quentin Coleman was dealing with an illness but paced Illinois with 19 points, while Tomislav Ivisic (14 points) and Stefan Vaaks (10) followed in double figures.
Including Coleman, several players were checked for injuries or met with the training staff in-game for attention. Only seven players logged at least 20 minutes for a team that typically goes nine or 10 deep.
As Underwood has asserted, Tuesday’s contest and others will be decided in the margins.
“We’re going to face a lot of games where teams are this good or better,” Ivisic said. “Some things have got to always be there. Rebounding, turnovers and free throws, no matter who we face, those are things that always have to be on point.
“It’s a long season — a lot more games to be played. Nothing’s lost. Nothing’s changed.”
Sam Houston has won two straight after a season-opening, 22-point loss at then-No. 20 Alabama.
Sparked by 20 points apiece from Jacobe Coleman and Aidan McDowell, the Bearkats defeated visiting Pepperdine 85-77 on Wednesday.
A 34-for-38 effort from the free throw line boosted the Bearkats, although McDowell was quick to note his 8-for-11 showing lowered the team’s percentage.
“It’s been a big stressor in practice, obviously, making free throws,” he said. “It’s just nice to knock them down under the lights. But yeah, I’ve got to eliminate those three [misses]; we’ll shoot a lot better.”
McDowell called the looming visit to Illinois, which kickstarts a four-game road trip “a great experience for everybody in our program.”
Pepperdine, of the West Coast Conference, marked the only nonconference school from NCAA Division I that the Bearkats will host this season.
“We go to Alabama for our first game, and you know, they’re Alabama; they’re huge. Then we come back and we play a good Howard Payne team,” McDowell said. “But it’s just good to see where we kind of stand in regard to teams of our level. The West Coast Conference is a really good conference, and it’s just good to come through and battle through some adversity tonight and just get the job done.”
