Gordo ranks area hoops: Illinois seeks tougher defense as March Madness nears

Illinois coach Brad Underwood has built his career on sturdy defense and team toughness.

So he was understandably vexed when the No. 10 Fighting Illini made things too easy for Michigan State while losing 88-80 in East Lansing Saturday.

Untimely offensive mistakes led to easy baskets for the Spartans. So did some defensive breakdowns.

When a reporter asked Underwood about his team’s defense after the game, Underwood said:  “I would like it to be better. It’s going to be that way when you give up 23 points in transition off of turnovers. We probably blew three or four switches tonight as well. The defensive mistakes are what we’ve got to clean up.”

Clearly the Illini got the message from Underwood after the game.

“I think we’ve got to man up and guard,” Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins said. “Guard somebody and go all out. It’s the last couple minutes. Just string together stops and take care of the ball.

"We’ve got older guys in who have played lots of minutes late. We know how to win. We know how to finish games. I don’t think it’s anything. I think we’ve got to be more dialed in.”

Added forward Marcus Domask: “I think it’s just a mindset thing. We’ve got to have more talk on that side, be more physical and we’ve just got to want it. We can’t let little stuff slip. We’ve got to lock in and really focus on that side.”

Meanwhile things somehow got worse this week for Missouri. Truman fell to 0-11 in Southeastern Conference play with two lopsided losses at home to mid-tier league rivals.

The Tigers are on pace to suffer the worst season in program history.

Missouri State also suffered a two-loss week as their midseason surge in the Missouri Valley Conference ground to a halt.

On the bright side, SLU won an Atlantic 10 road game and SIU Carbondale reaffirmed that it can hang with the top teams in the Valley.

Here is how the region’s Division I teams stack up:

ILLINOIS (17-6): Terrence Shannon Jr. did his thing at Michigan State by scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Hawkins was productive, too, with 14 points and seven assists. But Quincy Guerrier was limited to 14 minutes while earning four fouls and the Illini got just 15 points off the bench. Sparty came into the game with a 6-6 Big Ten record after suffering a 59-56 loss at Minnesota in its previous game, so it wasn’t surprising to see it really dig in during the game’s final 8 minutes. 

SIU CARBONDALE (16-9): The Salukis took a big run at MVC power Drake before suffering a 92-88 overtime road loss on Wednesday. That was their second OT loss in league play and their fifth loss by four or fewer points this season. Xavier Johnson scored 35 points and earned five assists while playing all 45 minutes. Then the Salukis returned home Saturday to edge Illinois State with Johnson (17 points, nine assists) starring yet again. SIUC missed 17-of-25 shots from 3-point range, but it enjoyed an excellent 15/6 assists-to-turnovers ratio and shot 50 percent from the floor.

MISSOURI STATE (14-11): The Bears rolled into the week with a four-game winning streak, but they faltered against a daunting schedule. First Missouri State lost at Northern Iowa 72-65 Wednesday night while turning the ball over 13 times. Alston Mason scored 19 points and N.J. Benson had 10 points and eight rebounds. Then came the painful 73-71 loss to Indiana State Saturday despite Mason’s 26-point performance. The Sycamores, the MVC's breakout team, have won nine straight games while building their case for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament if they don’t prevail at Arch Madness.

SLU (9-15): Sincere Parker apparently loves playing in Philadelphia. He poured in 67 points as the Billikens split two games on their A-10 road swing through the City of Brotherly Love. SLU broke through for a 102-84 victory at La Salle on Wednesday before suffering a heartbreaking 87-86 loss at Saint Joseph’s on Saturday. Brad Ezewiro (16 points, eight rebounds), Larry Hughes II (13 points) and Kellen Thames (12 points, six rebounds) gave Parker plenty of support at La Salle. Against Saint Joseph’s, the Billikens rallied from an 11-point deficit midway through the second half to give themselves a chance to win at the end. But once again they couldn’t close out a victory.

MISSOURI (8-16): With leading scorer Sean East II sidelined, the Tigers were easy pickings for Texas A&M (79-60 loss) and Mississippi State (75-51) at home this week. Tamar Bates scored 20 points and Nick Honor stepped up with 19 against the Aggies, but Missouri took a 40-22 beating on the boards Wednesday night. Curt Lewis played 27 minutes in East’s absence and scored just five points. The Tigers hung with the Bulldogs for a half Saturday afternoon before Mississippi State blew them away in the final 20 minutes. Honor scored 15 points, but he also turned the ball over five times. Lewis played 24 minutes and scored just four points.

SIU EDWARDSVILLE (13-12): The Cougars had a rough Ohio Valley Conference road assignment this week. First they fell 79-68 at Morehead State Thursday despite getting 22 points from Ray’Sean Taylor and an 18-point, 13-rebound performance from Damarco Minor. SIUE missed 18-of-21 shots from 3-point range in that loss. Then SIUE took an 84-67 tumble at Southern Indiana on Saturday.  Lamar and Shamar Wright combined for 21 points and Minor grabbed 11 rebounds.

SEMO (8-17): The Redhawks stopped their four-game losing streak with an 88-69 victory over Tennessee Tech at home Thursday. Evan Eursher scored a season-high 16 points and Rob Martin also scored 16. But SEMO followed that with a 77-74 loss at home to Tennessee State on Saturday despite getting a season-high 22 points plus eight rebounds from Josh Earley. Now the Redhawks head back to the road for games at Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville this week.

LINDENWOOD (8-17): The Lions suffered another bad week, this time at home. First they lost to Tennessee State 65-55 on Thursday, then they suffered a 62-53 overtime loss to Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Keenan Cole scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in those defeats.