CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The last time Northwestern and Illinois played, Jan. 14, Davor Duvancic erupted for a career high 22 points
But Fighting Illini coach Bruce Weber wasn’t going to let the Wildcats’ forward sneak up on his squad again.
“Before the game I just wrote, ‘kicked your butt first time’ next to his name,” Weber said.
Weber’s squad got the message Saturday, holding Duvancic scoreless in 35 minutes on the floor. And with the junior neutralized, Illinois (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) coasted to a 66-56 victory at assembly hall — splitting the season series with NU(12-13, 7-7).
Duvancic missed his only three shots, all of which came from beyond the arc. In the Cats’ 70-60 victory in Evanston last month, he made 7-of-10 attempts, sinking four three-pointers.
“I figured he’d be one of those guys who would take open shots if he had them,” said Nick Smith, the Fighting Illini’s 7-foot-2 center, who guarded Duvancic in both contests. “I mean, in the first game, he had shots hit the rim, bouncing 10 feet up, hitting the backboard and then dropping in. It was his night over there.”
Following the Cats’ first meeting with Illinois, Duvancic said he took advantage of his speed against the taller Smith. But Illinois was prepared for Duvancic’s game the second time around.
After starting Saturday’s game on the bench, Duvancic played the final 15 minutes of the first half, attempting just one shot. He never was able to get in the flow of the offense, simply floating around for most of his time on the court.
“I think they were more aware of him, but nothing different,” senior guard Jitim Young said. “He had a lot of one-on-one situations and he missed a lot of shots. That’s something he’s got to work on in practice and get that rhythm back.”
Duvancic has started 13 games this season, but in Big Ten games he usually has entered as a reserve. On Saturday Ivan Tolic started at center, then left the game for Duvancic after about five minutes.
“That’s the coach’s decision,” Duvancic said. “I guess I play better when I get off the bench. It’s just a difference of three minutes, but I don’t know.”
Duvancic couldn’t provide much of an offensive spark against Illinois. He did manage to pull down a team-high five rebounds and dish out a game-high five assists, but it wasn’t enough to put the Cats on top.
Between Tolic and Duvancic, their two tallest players in action Saturday, the Cats got two points and nine rebounds.
“We’ve struggled all year,” coach Bill Carmody said. “We don’t have any kind of scoring from our center position.”
Duvancic hasn’t scored in double digits since Feb. 7, when he recorded 12 points in a 69-51 win over Wisconsin. In the five games since, opponents have limited Duvancic to 17 points on 5-for-17 shooting.
“It’s frustrating when you know guys can make shots and they don’t make them,” Young said. “But you just try to encourage them a lot out there. You don’t want to be negative and make a player feel worse than he already is.”
While the third-year player has struggled recently, Carmody said he hasn’t seen too many teams changing their defense against Duvancic.
“He hasn’t had that many good games.”
