Illinois fronted Evan Eschmeyer. Sandwiched him. Kneed him. Flustered him. Brought him down to earth, and cut him down to size.
The Illini did everything necessary Saturday to hold the Northwestern star to 12 points, spare change compared to his 24.3 average. He finished 2 of 4 from the field.
One moment summed up a night for Eschmeyer. With freshman Sergio McClain backing into him and Jarrod Gee defending from behind during one second-half play, Eschmeyer could only watch helplessly as a forced pass meant for him was tipped away. Illinois went down and scored on a three-pointer by Jerry Hester.
Gee in particular manhandled the Wildcats’ 6-foot-11-inch center.
“Other teams have tried to do it, but they haven’t been successful as Illinois,” Eschmeyer said. “I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Jarrod Gee is a very, very strong individual. He could play linebacker. I wish he was.”
Study time: Illinois obviously watched tape of the Wildcats’ blowout loss to Iowa a week before. In that game, the Hawkeyes denied Eschmeyer the ball all night, though he still scored 18 points.
The Illini were even more vigilant about keeping him out of the lane. With 7 seconds left, Eschmeyer hit double figures with two free throws against Illinois’ subs.
Northwestern’s three top scorers–Eschmeyer, Sean Wink (12.5 average) and Julian Bonner (11.7)–were limited to 28 points. Wink had three.
“They had a good game plan,” NU coach Kevin O’Neill said. “They played us like you need to play us. They took out our scorers–all three of them–and put us in position where it was difficult for us to get inside touches.”
Eschmeyer had five points with 6 minutes 21 seconds left.
Turning heads: Along with about 100 teams, it seems, Illinois says it isn’t getting the respect it deserves.
Maybe in the case of the Illini, who are 11-5 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten, it’s true. They were picked in several national publications to finish seventh or eighth in the conference.
“That really motivates us,” said guard Kevin Turner, who finished with 15 points. “We keep that in mind. We just have to change the perceptions of the people who write that.”
Listen up: Northwestern only had 13 points in the first half, a record low at Welsh-Ryan Arena, much of it because of Illinois’ tenacious defense. The Wildcats had 13 turnovers in the first half, including two shot-clock violations and several other possessions on which they barely beat the clock.
Hearing is a problem, O’Neill said.
“Sometimes we’re not very good in the first half,” he said. “Second half, at least we can work in front of our bench and communicate things. We don’t do a great job of communicating in the first half. If you look down our games, traditionally in the first half, we haven’t played very well away from our bench offensively.”
Quick hits: Illinois’ Kevin Turner and NU’s Julian Bonner were sporting bandages after banging heads in the first half. Both had to leave the game because they were bleeding, Bonner above his left eye, Turner above his right. . . . O’Neill on Illinois’ 59-44 victory: “If you had said we were going to hold them to 59, I would have thought we had a chance to win.” How was he to know his team would have 13 at halftime?
Sergio watch: Illinois senior guard Matt Heldman said McClain’s season-high 14-point effort in Thursday night’s upset of Iowa wasn’t long overdue as far as his teammates are concerned.
“He’s still learning the system,” Heldman said. “His job has been to get the ball to our shooters, and he’s just accepting his role.”
