hawkfan340
Well-Known Member
tl;dr: Fantastic win. Great individual contributions and team win. Next three games, imo, are a little trickier than expected due to long travel + condensed schedule + lots of energy expended. Need to keep playing hard and can't get too full of ourselves.
Great win
Awesome win last night. Really played mentally tough considering how brutish the game started out. Both teams really wanted that win and the Hawks were just tougher than Illinois in the second half. They wilted and we kept pushing. It felt like a March-lite game.
One of the best things I saw last night was that we kept up the defensive intensity even after a few a few improbable shots went in. In past games I've seen us play a good defensive possession, still give up a crazy three, and the intensity swoons and things snowball, but last night they just stayed after it even if a few Illini shots fell.
A few individual call-outs:
Obviously, White was great all game and turned into an absolute monster during a big stretch of the second half that swung the tide for us. Can those 3s keep dropping, please?
Oglesby had a great game. Case in point three huge possessions with 3min to go in the 1st half…
(we had given up a big lead and were then down 26-30)
1) White alley-oop from Oglesby
2) Gabe easy lay-up after dish from Oglesby
3) Oglesby 3-pter… we now lead 33-30.
Seven straight Hawkeye points on that run, all through Oglesby. Wow, that was huge.
Jarrod Utombo didn't have his shot last night but was huge on the boards and obviously swatted a few shots which really hurt the shorter Illini offense. Huge contribution on a night when his 3-ball just wasn't falling.
Good defense by everybody on the team. And a lot better ball security in the second half. Just a great team win.
Looking Forward
Turning the page, I've said all year, this team can't get too full of themselves. There are going to be highs and lows. They need to keep their heads and effort levels steady and let the chips fall as they may.
One worry I have is the fact that we play W, Sa, T, Sa and the trip to Penn St. is a long one. No down time and lots of miles on this little swing. I hope we have a masseuse or something on call because we are a team that can never cruise and needs high energy against everyone. So do what you need to to recharge the batteries, boys.
Hope we don't start counting our NCAA chickens yet, and bring the same high effort every night the next week and a half.
Go Hawks.
Great win
Awesome win last night. Really played mentally tough considering how brutish the game started out. Both teams really wanted that win and the Hawks were just tougher than Illinois in the second half. They wilted and we kept pushing. It felt like a March-lite game.
One of the best things I saw last night was that we kept up the defensive intensity even after a few a few improbable shots went in. In past games I've seen us play a good defensive possession, still give up a crazy three, and the intensity swoons and things snowball, but last night they just stayed after it even if a few Illini shots fell.
A few individual call-outs:
Obviously, White was great all game and turned into an absolute monster during a big stretch of the second half that swung the tide for us. Can those 3s keep dropping, please?
Oglesby had a great game. Case in point three huge possessions with 3min to go in the 1st half…
(we had given up a big lead and were then down 26-30)
1) White alley-oop from Oglesby
2) Gabe easy lay-up after dish from Oglesby
3) Oglesby 3-pter… we now lead 33-30.
Seven straight Hawkeye points on that run, all through Oglesby. Wow, that was huge.
Jarrod Utombo didn't have his shot last night but was huge on the boards and obviously swatted a few shots which really hurt the shorter Illini offense. Huge contribution on a night when his 3-ball just wasn't falling.
Good defense by everybody on the team. And a lot better ball security in the second half. Just a great team win.
Looking Forward
Turning the page, I've said all year, this team can't get too full of themselves. There are going to be highs and lows. They need to keep their heads and effort levels steady and let the chips fall as they may.
One worry I have is the fact that we play W, Sa, T, Sa and the trip to Penn St. is a long one. No down time and lots of miles on this little swing. I hope we have a masseuse or something on call because we are a team that can never cruise and needs high energy against everyone. So do what you need to to recharge the batteries, boys.
Hope we don't start counting our NCAA chickens yet, and bring the same high effort every night the next week and a half.
Go Hawks.
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