CHAMPAIGN — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries knew the only path to victory at State Farm Arena on Sunday afternoon involved keeping No. 7 Illinois from overpowering them on the glass.
With the Hoosiers (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) losing the rebound battle by double-digits and giving up 15 offensive rebounds, the 71-51 loss wasn’t a surprising outcome.
“We knew it was the No. 1 thing we needed to do a good job of if we were to come in here and win,” DeVries said. “Illinois is one of the best rebounding teams in the country and for good reason, they got great size, they go with some physicality, they go with effort and if we were going to stay with them.”
The Illini came into the game averaging 41.3 rebounds per game (ranked No.11 in Division 1) with 13.1 offensive rebounds per game (31st). They had the sixth-best offensive rebounding percentage (38.9%) in the country, per Bart Torvik.
They have four players in the rotation who are 6-foot-9 or taller, but the seven players in coach Brad Underwood’s rotation all average at least 4.0 rebounds per game.
“They do a good job of schematically, long shots, long rebounds, they’ve done a terrific job of creating those habits of those guys going and going with force,” DeVries said. “There’s a reason why they are one of the best teams in the country and I think you saw a lot of that today.”
Illinois had 13 second-chance points in the second half after only scoring four in the first half. Tomisla Ivisic, a 7-foot-1 junior out of Croatia, had three of those putbacks and scored a team-high points in the second half. The Illini also outscored IU in the paint 40-24.
Indiana has now lost the rebounding battle in eight of its nine losses this season and given up double-digit offensive rebounds in four of those games.
“I thought as the game wore on they wore into us a little bit,” DeVries said.
With no help waiting in the wings that will suddenly improve the IU’s size in the frontcourt, starting forward Sam Alexis made it clear there’s only one way for IU’s rebounding to improve as it looks to lock down a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“We got to be tougher and more physical,” Alexis said.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Illinois exposes Indiana basketball’s glaring weakness