CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – It took sophomore forward Kevin Coble 30 minutes to finally score Sunday.
By the time he recorded his first points, the Wildcats faced a 23-point deficit.
Coble and junior guard Craig Moore went a combined 3 of 13 from the floor, as NU suffered a 33-point road loss to Illinois.
“Not too much good happened for us out there tonight,” coach Bill Carmody said. “They did a nice job defensively on Coble and Moore. If those two guys don’t score, it’s trouble for us. They did a nice job on those guys.”
Thompson led NU with 13 points. Junior guard Sterling Williams had nine, but the rest of the team combined for 15.
Only four players made at least two field goals.
“They pressure the ball,” Williams said. “They deny the first and second pass. You usually have to look for the next guy, skipping across the court.”
Thompson said the Illini’s full-court pressure threw off the Cats’ timing. He said he was not trying to force things in an attempt to create offense, but still needs to have confidence in his teammates to make shots.
Many of the Cats’ scoring problems came from their inability to get dribble penetration to kick out to the open shooter. The Illini kept them out on the perimeter, where they forced contested shots.
“Everyone goes through a shooting slump,” Thompson said. “I still have to have confidence in my guys. I still have to find a man and know that they are going to make the next shot.”
NU struggled last year at Assembly Hall in a 48-37 loss in which the team managed just 15 points in the second half and shot 30.6 percent.
The Cats scored 18 points in the first half and 19 in the second and shot 31 percent.
Carmody said the team has struggled to shoot this year and that it needs to get inside the paint more to create better shooting opportunities. He also said the team needs to cut down on its turnovers to improve its offense.
“We haven’t shot the ball very well for most of the year,” Carmody said. “We are going to try to get the ball inside, maybe that’s the best thing …. The stuff (the Illini) run and the defense on the perimeter, I think, is very good. It certainly wiped us out this game.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
