Notes: Free throws, rebounding both an issue for Illinois against Wisconsin – The News-Gazette

CHICAGO — Kylan Boswell had some pent-up emotions going into Friday afternoon’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal game against Wisconsin.

Boswell didn’t play the last time Illinois faced the Badgers, still sidelined following a freak accident in practice that led to a broken bone in his right hand. Wisconsin pulling off a come-from-behind 92-90 overtime win on Feb. 10 at State Farm Center frustrated Boswell because all he could do was watch from the bench that night in Champaign.

The Badgers’ celebration also rankled Boswell. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard wearing one of the Jake Davis-inspired wigs given out that night while celebrating with his players in the visiting locker room at State Farm Center didn’t sit well with the Illinois guard. Neither did the way Badgers guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell went at the Illini fans after the regular-season win.

So, after forcing Boyd into a turnover on the opening play of Friday’s game at the United Center, Boswell got in his face.

“I was just extremely (ticked) after that game,” Boswell said. “I was letting him know I wasn’t playing that game.”

The result? A double technical on both Boswell and Boyd just 29 seconds into the game.

“Just two competitive players out there on the court,” Boyd said. “Where I’m from, someone walks up on you, you’ve got to keep the same energy. It was nothing personal. He’s a great player. That’s the type of stuff I love because that’s how I grew up, and it gets me going.”

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The technical alone for Boswell would have been fine. Getting whistled for his second foul just 22 seconds later wasn’t.

“The whole mood got shot when I got another foul, and after that it was all downhill from there,” said Boswell, who played just eight minutes in the first half and finished Friday’s game with nine points and five rebounds before fouling out in overtime in the 91-88 loss to the Badgers.

Boswell was the only Illinois player to foul out, but Illinois was whistled for 23 fouls on Friday. That’s the most fouls for the Illini this season and just the third time they’ve been called for more than 20 in a single game.

“We’re a team that doesn’t foul a lot, and all of a sudden they’re shooting just astronomical numbers from the free-throw line,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “We haven’t done that all year.”

Wisconsin finished Friday’s game 25 of 30 at the free-throw line. Illinois was 9 of 15.

“I’m going to be careful with what I say,” Boswell said. “I don’t know, at all, what (Friday) was. Some of the calls that happened I don’t necessarily agree with. However, at the end of the day, they are the refs, and we respect their decisions. It just made it really difficult for us to play basketball — let both teams be a little more aggressive — but they shot a lot more free throws than us.”

Boyd and Blackwell in particular. Of the Badgers duo’s 69 total points, 21 came at the free-throw line.

“They shot, combined, 22 free throws,” Illinois guard Keaton Wagler said. “We can’t really do that. That just gets them going. It gives them confidence.”

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Underwood was also rankled by Wisconsin winning the rebounding battle on Friday at the United Center. The Badgers might have only pulled down a single rebound more than Illinois (37 for Wisconsin compared to 36 for Illinois), but the margin didn’t matter to the Illini coach. That it happened did.

“That’s all we talked about for two days,” Underwood said. “We’ve got to get it figured out. We’re getting very, very few rebounds on a consistent basis from anyone. We’ve got to have somebody nasty enough and give a (crap) enough that want to go grab a rebound. It’s very frustrating.”

Wisconsin’s 11 offensive rebounds — to just nine for Illinois — was also an issue for Underwood. The Badgers turned those offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points, including two from a pair of Blackwell free throws that sent the game to overtime.

“We do more rebounding drills, and we’ve been a great, great rebounding team by the numbers all year,” the Illinois coach said. “Give Wisconsin credit. They deserve all the credit. … Maybe I haven’t done a good enough job. We’ve got to emphasize it. We’ve got to have some nasty, competitive fire to want to go get a rebound. Sometimes just do your job — block out.

“I think we’ve had it at times. The challenge becomes, when the game is on the line, are you going to go get it? Our numbers show we’re one of the best rebounding teams in the country, but to have nothing on the offensive glass? Nothing? Washington got 50 percent of their misses back against that team, and we had nothing. We have to understand what winning and losing is, and that’s what wins.”

Andrej Stojakovic and Zvonimir Ivisic led Illinois with seven rebounds apiece. Tomislav Ivisic had just two.

“I don’t think (Wisconsin) did anything special,” Tomislav Ivisic said. “They just crashed. We definitely could have crashed better, boxed out better. Rebounding is not a great skill. It’s do you want it or not?”

Austin Rapp and Aleksas Bieliauskas grabbed nine rebounds apiece for Wisconsin. The Badgers also got 11 rebounds combined out of its backcourt from Boyd and Blackwell.

“A lot of rebounding is what’s underneath your hood, meaning inside of you, and your grit and your toughness,” Gard said. “You can rebound against size if you continue to have the fight to you and some toughness. … Our pursuit of it, I thought, and our fight to make sure we minimize extra possessions, I think was exceptional.”

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Illinois didn’t have too many issues offensively Friday against Wisconsin save for a short stretch in the second half where shots weren’t falling and the Badgers capitalized to erase the Illini’s double-digit lead.

Illinois still shot 50 percent overall from the field — even on a tough shooting performance from the three-point line, where the Illini made just 9 of 31 — and scored 1.189 points per possession. Turnovers were limited, too, as Illinois finished with seven.

“We’ve got the best offense in the country,” Underwood said. “You have to be able to score points in the tournament. We’re so close. At some point, somebody is going to flip the switch, and we’ll make the shot or we’ll get the rebound. That could start six wins in a row. There’s no one that believes in us more than I do in the ability to make a deep, deep run.”

But that second-half stretch — where Illinois saw its lead shrink from 15 to two — saw just a single made shot from Boswell. A single jumper amid 15 points combined from Boyd and Blackwell.

“The looks that we got are shots we shoot all the time,” Boswell said. “Sometimes when you’re hooping, you can just feel it when the momentum isn’t swinging our way and they’re knocking down shots that are maybe a little bit tougher. In those moments, you just have to slow everything down and just find a way to get one in the rim. Once that happens, it flows back to normal. Maybe we could have attacked a little bit more.”

Better ball movement could also help Illinois. The offense got stagnant at times against Wisconsin, including that stretch where the Badgers mounted their comeback.

“Just keep sharing the ball,” Stojakovic said. “We just have to keep trusting each other. We have to stay consistent in that. I think that’s the No. 1 thing.”

Scott Richey