Count on Illinois to slaughter sacrificial lamb Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Saturday night at the Assembly Hall and improve to 6-1.
If not, there are bigger problems with this season’s team than people realize. Tuesday’s 76-63 loss at Maryland, however, revealed several areas that need quick attention if the Illini are to live up to their lofty preseason expectations.
“Certainly we’ve got to get much tougher and execute better,” coach Bill Self said. “The Maryland game, because of a lot of different reasons, brought things to a head. TV and the tape doesn’t lie. Hopefully, we’ll learn and get better from it.”
Concern No. 1: Frank Williams. The returning Big Ten Player of the Year made only 3-of-16 shots from the floor against the Terps, dropping his field-goal percentage to 34 percent. Williams had only one assist in 34 minutes.
Self’s postgame comments about his players’ selfishness and a lack of trust seemed largely directed at Williams, whom Self described as overweight and out-of-shape because, in part, of the sprained wrist that cut into his practice time.
“Frank is a guy who can play himself into shape,” Self said. “But he’s not where I want him to be.”
Concern No. 2: Cory Bradford. Bradford has been concentrating on going to the basket more, but that approach has flopped (.360 shooting percentage) and his three-point accuracy also continues to plummet. Bradford, who made 41 percent of his threes as a freshman, went 0-for-5 against the Terps and is shooting a career-low 36 percent on threes.
With Williams and Bradford struggling and inspirational forward Lucas Johnson sidelined until at least February by a knee injury, the Illini appear to be a team in need of a leader.
“You can’t say we’ve got no leader, based on one game,” Self said. “What you can say is our leaders have got to get better when times are tough.”
Concern No. 3: Lack of toughness inside. Center Robert Archibald had eight points and 10 rebounds; forward Brian Cook had eight points and seven rebounds; and Damir Krupalija came off the bench to get 10 points and eight rebounds.
But they appeared intimidated by 6-10, 220-pound Maryland reserve Chris Wilcox, who had 19 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Wilcox finished with only one foul; Cook fouled out and Archibald had four personals.
With a victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Illinois would be ahead of last year’s pace (5-2) after seven games, so it’s way too early to panic.
“I don’t think our chemistry is great right now,” Self said. “I think the difference is that last year we competed hard. I just don’t think we’re competing hard right now.”
