Andy Kowske: C-
Kowske played well when he was out there, but was limited to 17 minutes due to foul trouble. While Andy still has his occasional stupid foul, on this night he was hit with some subtle bumps that went into the books as fouls. He hit all three of his shots and was effective against Griffin, until the fouls occurred.
Charlie Wills: C-
Wills was affored numerous open looks but just couldn't knock his shot down. He forced one shot, but for the most part they were good looks. Defensively, Charlie battled hard as he always does, but had trouble keeping the aggressive Illii off of the glass, especially in the second half.
Roy Boone: B+
Boone was deadly from the perimeter, often despite the fact that his shot was contested. He often distributed the ball well and was active on defense. He also locked up on Bradford for muc of the game and didn't give many open looks via ball rotation, forcing Bradford to shoot some tough shots. He did however have trouble with Williams backing him down in the lane when Roy was forced to guard him.
Kirk Penney: A-
Penney, like Boone, was deadly from the perimeter. He was very active without the ball and continually was able to run his man off screens, enabling him to get off his lightning quick release. He hit for 18 points on only 7 shots. Penney also did a nice job of putting the ball on the floor which got him to the free throw line. At the line, he missed a couple free throws during crunch time, but hit 2 with under 10 seconds remaining. Also had 4 boards.
Mike Kelley: B+
Kelley was also hampered by foul trouble, though like Kowske, Mike was effective when he was out there (30 minutes). He did a nice job of cutting to the hoop, resulting in 8 points. He also did a terrific job on Williams defensively. Kelley contained him in the first half and Williams only went off once Kelley was out of the game. When Kelley returned, he was able to body up on Williams and draw contact, though the officials refused to make the call.
Dave Mader: B-
Mader came in when the front line was decimated by foul trouble and did an admirable job defensively. He defended the post aggressively and was able to maintain the Badgers inside presence. He still isn't a threat offensively and this grade may be kind as a result, but given his role, I thought he came through.
Mark Vershaw: C-
Against another big front line, Vershaw's post game was limited. He did hit a couple of nice face up jumpers however. His big negative IMO came in the second half when Wills and Kowske were hampered by foul difficulty. Illinois started attacking the glass relentlessly and Vershaw, as one of the few remaining big men, could not contain them, finishing with only 1 rebound for the game.
Maurice Linton: B
Gave the team a nice offensive lift, hitting 3 of 4 shots and adding 3 assists in 14 minutes. Like Vershaw however, Linton was forced to bump bodies with Griffin, Johnson, Cook, and company inside in the second half, and Linton was just overmatched..
Travon Davis: D
Illinois basically ignored Travon when he was in the game which limited his ability to penetrate and distribute. Defensively, he was abused by Williams as Davis just wasn't big enough to keep the tough point guard out of the lane.
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