5 painful observations from the Illinois basketball loss to UConn

Illinois basketball turned Black Friday into Ugly Friday with a bad showing against UConn.

This was a measuring stick game to see where the Illini are as a program. We had a chance to take on the No. 5 team in the country, and the Huskies looked like they should be ranked that high.

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UConn came out swinging against the Illini. They were hitting shot after shot, and Illinois struggled to get anything going offensively. At one time, the Illini were down by 14 points in the first half. By the end of the first half, we were in an 11-point hole.

The second half started poorly, too. The deficit reached as many as 21 points with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. Illinois stormed back and narrowed it to a single-digit deficit late, but it was too little too late. UConn ended up beating Illinois, 74-61.

Here are five painful observations from the Illinois basketball loss to UConn

1. Illinois needs to pull back David Mirkovic three-point privileges

I was enamored by the play of David Mirkovic early on this season. Some would say, I overreact.

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Mirkovic was looking great to begin his time with the Illini. He was torching teams for the first four games, but when the good teams arrive, this kid seems to run into a brick wall.

This happened once again on Friday. Illinois took on a good UConn squad, and Mirkovic had another bad game. He finished the contest with eight points, eight rebounds, and two assists while shooting 3-of-10 from the floor.

The struggles are understandable, as these are good teams Illinois is playing. But there is having off games, and then there is taking ill-advised shots. He had some moments when he shouldn’t have been taking shots.

Mirkovic was open on some of his three-point attempts, but I think it is time to pull his three-point privileges. He was hitting those shots earlier this season, but when the teams get better, his shooting suffers.

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Illinois has played against three power-four programs this season. Mirkovic is shooting…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/5-painful-observations-illinois-basketball-222556173.html

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Publish date : 2025-11-28 22:25:00

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