Feb. 4, 2011
Complete Illinois-Michigan Game Notes
GAME 24 - ILLINOIS (7-16, 2-8) AT MICHIGAN (13-9, 6-4)
Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 // 2 p.m. ET/1 CT // Crisler Arena (13,751) // Ann Arbor, Mich.
ON THE AIR
TV: Tape delayed Big Ten Network Student U broadcast airs on Monday, Feb. 7 at 9 a.m. CT
Streaming Video: Live at BigTenNetwork.com
Radio: Live on WDWS-AM 1400 and online at fightingillini.com (pay), Dave Loane and Mike Koon
Livestats: fightingillini.com Gametracker
THE SERIES
Illinois leads 39-23 overall and 17-12 in Ann Arbor
Last Meeting: Michigan 64, Illinois 48 on Jan. 28, 2010 in Champaign, Ill.
THE COACHES
Illinois: Jolette Law, 56-67 overall and at Illinois (fourth season)
Michigan: Kevin Borseth, 569-247 overall (29th season) and 63-57 at Michigan (4th season)
FOLLOW THE FIGHTING ILLINI
fightingillini.com
CoachJoletteLaw.com
facebook.com/IlliniWHoops
twitter.com/IlliniWHoops
QUICK HITS
• Tip-off: The Fighting Illini (7-16, 2-8) will look to change their luck when they head to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines (13-9, 6-4) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. EST/1 CST. Illinois has dropped six straight, including a pair of recent last-second heartbreakers against Penn State and Northwestern, while the Wolverines have lost two in a row (at Minnesota and Penn State at home) after a 6-2 start to conference play.
• McCully On Point: Junior Lydia McCully has given the Illini excellent point guard play as of late, combining for 21 points, 20 assists, nine steals and only two turnovers in the last two games. Her 11 assist, zero turnover game Thursday night at Northwestern marks the highest assist total in a Big Ten game this season. She currently ranks fourth in assists (4.2 apg) and third in assist/TO ratio (1.7) during conference games.
• Penn POW: Sophomore forward Karisma Penn picked up her third Big Ten Player of the Week honor of the season on Jan. 31 after averaging 21.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 3.0 steals in close losses to Penn State and #18 Iowa. She also won POW honors on Jan. 3 and Dec. 20, tying her for the second most POW honors in a season by an Illini.
• Seeing Double: Penn has posted 14 double-doubles this season to lead the Big Ten and rank fourth in the nation. She has posted six double-doubles during conference play, which also leads the league, and has 15 in her career.
• Select Company: Penn is one of just five players nationally that averages at least 17.5 points and 10.5 boards per game, joining VCU's Courtney Hurt, Buffalo's Kourtney Brown, Ohio State's Jantel Lavender and Alabama State's Tanika Jackson.
• Rukavina Has Career-Night: Junior forward Lana Rukavina exploded for a career-high 22 points at Northwestern on Thursday, crushing her previous high of 13. She hit 9-of-14 from the field, including a career-high two three-pointers, and also had a career-high three steals versus the Wildcats.
• Stealing the Show: The Illini have stepped up the defensive pressure as of late, posting their top two steals totals of the season in the last two games. Illinois posted 14 thefts against Iowa last Sunday and 13 at Northwestern on Thursday. As a team, the Illini rank third in steals per game during conference games, while Penn leads the Big Ten in thefts during Big Ten contests (2.6 spg).
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Michigan has been an up and down team this season. The Wolverines were tied for first place in the Big Ten at the midpoint with a 6-2 record, but have dropped their last two games at Minnesota and at home against Penn State. They've played the seventh toughest schedule in the nation and are 21st in CollegeRPI.com's latest rankings.
Senior guard Veronica Hicks (11.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) leads an in incredibly balanced Michigan attack in both scoring and rebounding. Junior Carmen Reynolds (10.5 ppg, .398 3FG%) is the only other Wolverine averaging double-figures. As a team, Michigan leads the Big Ten in three-point field goals made and features eight players that can hit from behind the arc. The Wolverines also take care of the ball well as they lead the conference in turnover margin (+3.5) and in fewest turnovers per game (13.1).
• The Illinois-Michigan Series: Illinois leads the overall series 39-23 and is 17-12 all time in Ann Arbor. Michigan has won three straight, including a 64-48 victory in Assembly Hall last season, but prior to that the Illini won seven straight against the Wolverines. Illinois' last win over Michigan was at Crisler Arena on Feb. 24, 2008 (66-61).
CLOSE, BUT...
The Illini have lost four games this season where they've led or been tied with less than 10 seconds left. Take a look at Illinois' buzzer-beating defeats:
• Dec. 8 at Oakland: Oakland's Bethany Watterworth hit a putback with 2.3 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a one-point lead, then Amber Moore's 35-footer at the buzzer rattled in and out in the 62-61 OT loss.
• Jan. 9 vs. Northwestern: NU's Beth Marshall hit a three as time expired to send the game into overtime. In OT, Illinois missed two threes in the final seconds in the 69-66 defeat.
• Jan. 27 vs Penn State: PSU's Julia Trogele scored the go-ahead bucket with 9.1 seconds left and then Illinois' Lydia McCully missed the potential game-tying shot at the buzzer in the 67-65 loss.
• Feb. 3 at Northwestern: With Illinois leading 79-78, Northwestern's Amy Jaeschke hit a contested, turn-around, fall-away, 15-foot bank shot with 1.4 seconds left to give the Wildcats an 80-79 win.
PENN FILLING BIG SHOES
Heading into the season, many wondered how the Illini would replace Jenna Smith, a three-time first team All-Big Ten selection and the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks. While Smith left some big shoes to fill, Illinois sophomore Karisma Penn has virtually matched Smith's numbers as a sophomore, when she was named an honorable mention All-American. Take a side-by-side look at their sophomore seasons:
Sophomore Stars: Karisma Penn vs. Jenna Smith
Stat Penn '10-11 Smith '07-08
Points per game 17.6 18.3
Rebounds per game 10.6 9.4
Blocks per game 2.6 1.7
Steals per game 2.3 1.1
Field Goal Percentage .502 .503
Double-Doubles 14 16
Minutes per game 33.9 37.3
• Block Party: Penn is already climbing up the UI career blocks list. After breaking the UI freshman record with 57 swats last year, Penn has already surpassed that total this season with 59 rejections to bring her career number to 116. She currently ranks fifth on the UI career blocks list and is tied for third on the single season list, just 11 behind
Jenna Smith's school record of 70 set last season.
• All-Around Player: Penn is the only player in the conference that ranks in the top-five in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals this season. The Shaker Heights, Ohio, native is fourth in the conference in scoring (17.6 ppg), second in rebounding (10.6 rpg), second in blocks (2.6 bpg) and fifth in steals (2.3 spg). In conference play, Penn ranks in the top four in all four categories and is first in steals (2.7 spg).
• Making a Name: Penn went toe-to-toe with Ohio State All-American Jantel Lavender on Jan. 20 and posted some impressive numbers. Penn scored a game-high 26 points, pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds and had four steals against the three-time Big Ten Player of the Year. Lavender finished with 19 points and 12 boards in a classic battle of two the conference's top players.
BOMBS AWAY!
Redshirt freshman Amber Moore has been an explosive outside threat for the Illini this season. Moore has hit 24 threes during conference play (2.4 per game) to rank fourth in the Big Ten. She is averaging 10.8 ppg in Big Ten games, well above her average of 6.8 ppg in non-conference action. Her seven threes at Indiana on Jan. 13 equaled the second most in a game in school history behind only Katie Coleman's school-record of nine in 1997.
FREE THROW TURNAROUND
Illinois has made strides toward fixing its early season free throw shooting woes. Entering conference play, the Illini ranked last in the Big Ten at 61.4 percent. However, they've knocked down 118-of-166 (71.1 percent) to lift their season average to 66.0 percent. Amber Moore leads the way, as she has hit all 18-of-19 from the line this season (94.7 percent).
BENCH PRODUCTION
The Fighting Illini bench has come up big all season, particularly as of late. In the last eight games, the UI bench has outscored the opposing benches 204-108 (25.5-13.5). Against Northwestern on Jan. 9, the Illinois bench outscored the NU reserves 46-5, then on Jan. 13 at Indiana, the UI bench scored a season-high 48 points. Last Sunday against Iowa, the Illini bench had a 22-3 advantage. For the season, Illinois' reserves are outscoring the opposing benches by an average of 22.2-14.1.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Illinois put the shackles on one of the top offensive teams in the country on Jan. 27, forcing 24 Penn State turnovers, blocking a school record 13 shots and limiting the nation's top three-point shooting team to just 2-of-7 from behind the arc. Then on Jan. 30 against Iowa the Illini forced 22 turnovers and followed that up with 21 forced turnovers at Northwestern. In Big Ten play, the Illini lead the conference in blocks per game (5.1) and are third in steals per game (8.8).
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
The Illini have been taking care of the ball as of late. They had season-low nine turnovers against Iowa on Jan. 30 and have had 14 or less in three of the last five games, well below their season average of 18. They've also been forcing more turnovers on the defensive end as Penn State (24), Iowa (22) and Northwestern (21) have combined to cough up 67 turnovers in the last three games.
NEW LOOK LINE-UP
Coach Jolette Law changed up her starting lineup just once this season. Lydia McCully, Eboni Mitchell, Centrese McGee, Karisma Penn and Lana Rukavina started the first 18 games for the Illini. For the Jan. 20 game against Ohio State, Amber Moore was inserted into the lineup in place of Mitchell and that has remained for the last five games.
WHERE ARE THE SENIORS?
Illinois is one of only seven Division I teams in the nation without a senior on its roster heading into the 2010-11 season, joining Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Murray State, Oral Roberts, Purdue and Rutgers. With the absence of senior leadership, Illini head coach Jolette Law has singled out redshirt junior Lydia McCully and sophomores Karisma Penn and Kersten Magrum as players who have stepped up as leaders this season.
LAST TIME OUT: ILLINI FALL AT BUZZER ON ROAD
The Illini saw a familiar scene play out when Northwestern's Amy Jaeschke hit a contested, turn-around, fall-away, 15-foot bank shot with 1.4 second left to give the Wildcats an 80-79 win The shot marked the fourth time this season that Illinois lost a game where it led or was tied with less than 10 seconds left. The Illini took a 79-78 lead with 29.7 seconds left after Lydia McCully hit a pair of free throws.
Illinois' defense was stellar after that, forcing an NU timeout with 13.3 seconds left and then forcing the improbable game-winning shot by Jaeschke. The Illini had one last chance with 1.4 seconds left, but was unable to get a shot off after a full court pass attempt was picked off. Junior Lana Rukavina shattered her previous career-high of 13 points by pouring in 22. McCully had her first career double-double with 10 points, a career-high 11 assists, five steals and zero turnovers. Karisma Penn had 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds and Adrienne GodBold added 15 points. FULL RECAP
