Bollant suffers first loss 83-77 to Bradley
By: Aaron Bennett
Updated: November 15, 2012
Champaign, Ill. (UI Release) --
In a game that had just one tie and no lead changes, visiting Bradley
jumped out to a lead early and held off every Illinois run to come away
with an 83-77 victory at Assembly
Hall in the second game of the 2012-13 season for the Illini (1-1).
The Braves led by
as many as nine points in the first half thanks in large part to a 7
for 8 performance from the three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Six different players knocked down threes for
Bradley, who got 41 points off its bench.
"We want to be
the most aggressive team and the one that fights," Illinois coach Matt
Bollant said. "However, we didn't start the game that way and didn't
play most of the game that way. We let them get
going early. We didn't come with a lot of aggression and a lot of fight.
That has been who we are, but tonight that wasn't us."
The Braves shot
62 percent from the floor in the first half, then used a 40-37 edge on
the glass and 24-8 advantage in free-throw attempts to stave off the
Illini in the second half.
"The most aggressive team gets to the foul line and we didn't do that," Bollant pointed out.
Illinois got a
big night from senior Karisma Penn, who tallied 29 points, 16 rebounds
and three blocked shots. Sophomore Ivory Crawford scored a career-best
18 points to go along with three steals. Alexis
Smith had 10 points and eight assists in 38 minutes of action, helping
the Illini score in transition.Led by Penn, the Illini held a
considerable 50-28 advantage in the paint and forced 22 turnovers while
committing just 15 themselves.
Shronda Butts was
one of five Bradley players in double figures with 15. Her basket with
8:46 to play put the Braves up 69-59 before the Illini rallied. Crawford
got free for a transition basket and Amber
Moore fed Penn for a lay-up before making a baseline three-point shot to
end a 7-0 Illinois run and cut the gap to three.
After making 11
treys in Sunday's win over Evansville, the Illini were just 3 of 24 from
beyond the arc on Thursday. The Illinois pressure forced Bradley's
guards away from the basket down the stretch as
the shot clock reached single-digits numerous times. However too often,
the Illini fouled or gave up an offensive rebound.
"I'm proud of KP,
the way the she stepped up in the second half," Bollant said. "I
thought she tried to will us back. Unfortunately, we didn't get the
defensive rebound that we needed in the second half.
If we get a few of those, I think we come back and win that game."
Illinois got as
close as 75-73 with 2:30 to play and Penn's final points made it
one-possession game, down 80-77 with 37 seconds left. The Illini got a
steal on the other end, but turned it right back to
Bradley, who made free throws to ice the game. The Braves (2-1) shot 83
percent from the line on the night.
