Illinois basketball added to an epic day featuring multiple upsets on Thanksgiving day. The Fighting Illini and head coach Brad Underwood pulled off the 90-77 romp of No. 19 Arkansas. Their victory came on the same day unranked Oklahoma stunned No. 24 Arizona in the Bahamas.
How did Illinois take down the high-powered Razorbacks in Kansas City? Underwood identified the honest reason behind the Illini’s upset, per Glenn Kinley of CBS WCIA-3 in Central Illinois: Hustle plays.
“We’ve talked about it in the locker room. There were four opportunities to get on the floor. And we were the first one on the floor every single time,” Underwood said, referencing the said hustle plays. “Those are the plays that will keep you moving forward in March…We’ve built our program on that. That’s our culture.”
Illinois simply gassed Arkansas with the hustle momentum. The Illini not only turned to a faster style, but created lots of offensive possessions compared to the Razorbacks.
“Every possession is a little battle. To get extra opportunities was huge,” Underwood added.
Illinois basketball jumped on Arkansas early
The Illini didn’t hesitate to set the tone against a nationally ranked foe.
Tomislav Ivisic swatted an early attempt to the hoop on defense. Ben Humrichous later raced down to the three-point line, then banked the first basket to go up 3-0. Ivisic then hauled down the next ensuing defensive rebound, then hit his own long range jumper off an assist by Kylan Boswell to extend the lead at 6-0.
A Boswell layup, followed by one more Ivisic jumper, blew the lead up to 11-0 against the powerful Razorbacks. Illinois led by as many as 16 during the first period. The Illini took a 49-34 lead into halftime.
Arkansas managed to slice the lead down to nine during the second half. But Illinois simply brought way too much speed and hustle on the T-Mobile Center floor during the Thanksgiving Hoops Classic.
Kasparas Jakucionis led Illinois with 23 points in 34 minutes. Ivisic, who was also playing against his twin brother Zvonimir, scored 21 on the evening plus blocked three shots. Boswell chipped in 18 points. Illinois grabbed 28 defensive rebounds as a team compared to Arkansas snatching 21.
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The losing coach John Calipari, meanwhile, couldn’t help but give Illinois credit for its hustle play.
“You got to give them credit,” Calipari told reporters. “They had great motion. They were creating switches.”
The national champion winning head coach from Kentucky added how his defense “left corners” on the floor — swinging the door open for three-point attempts.
Illinois earned a signature win to improve to 6-1 overall. And this upset comes right before the Illini starts Big 10 Conference play on Dec. 6 against Northwestern.