Voice of the Illini Brian Barnhart offers four thoughts from Maui after Wednesday night's 83-74 loss to Xavier
1. The biggest number of the night was the shooting percentage for Xavier for the game, which was at 57 percent. It doesn’t matter how well the Illini shot at any point in the game. It is impossible to keep up with a team that shoots at that level. The points in the paint numbers also told the story as Xavier won that by a 36-20 margin.
2. Give some credit to Xavier. They did what they do best, which is to start their offense about 30 feet from the basket to get the defense spread out and open up driving lanes and then either take those lanes or pass to a shooter sitting on the three-point line.