I was ready to call the game at halftime. Texas Tech led 49-29. Illinois had turned it over 11 times, and the Red Raiders took every live-ball turnover and ran.
However, the coaches and players had a different point of view.
Illinois came out pressing, got Tech into half-court sets, and the Red Raiders went 8-for-27 from the field after the break. Illinois went from down 22 to down 1.
Illinois also started using more pick-and-roll, which surprised me. You’d think with all the hype about Tyler Underwood changing the offense they would stick to what they’ve been doing, but they added something that made a difference.
Pick-and-roll isn’t something new for this team, just new this season so far. Adding it requires everyone to know what’s going on, and that takes reps. And there’s no better time to get reps than November. I liked that they tried something and the outcome almost isn’t relevant.
What hurt the most was a sequence with about four minutes to go. Illinois, down 68-66, had forced three straight missed shots on a possession. Texas Tech rebounded all three shots and finally hit their fourth attempt, a three from Donovan Atwell, to go up 71-66. It felt like a dagger.
Tech outscored Illinois 23-8 from the free-throw line, which can’t happen to a road team that expects to come away with a win.
The team didn’t complete the comeback, but they came awfully close. Plenty of film material to review. Plenty of experience for the young team playing in front of a hostile crowd.
Illinois now knows two things. One, they can come back from 22 down against a good team. Two, you can’t give up 18 offensive rebounds, shoot 8-19 from the line, and expect to win.
Getting punched in the nose like that is good for the team and program. You want to expose those soft spots in November, not March.