The Unique Way Andrej Stojakovic Lifted Illinois Over Ohio State

A 17-point outing from Illinois' Andrej Stojakovic on Tuesday at Ohio State was an encouraging sign following his recent mini-slump – especially his 7-for-7 showing from the free-throw line. Yet it still wasn’t the highlight of his performance in an 88-80 win for the Illini (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten).

Stojakovic’s scoring ability is already well-known. Even when he’s struggling, the junior wing is always a bona fide scoring threat. But it’s on the other end that he can truly expand his game to the next level. We’ve seen the flashes – notably his defense against Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson. Against the Buckeyes, we saw it again.

Bruce Thornton, the engine of Ohio State’s offense, put together a shooting display for the ages in the first half, pouring in 24 points and missing just once on 10 shots from the field (including six made threes). Lockdown perimeter defender Kylan Boswell drew the assignment for Illinois, and true to form, he stuck to Thornton like white on rice over the first 20 minutes. Thornton just made brilliant shot after brilliant shot.

Andrej Stojakovic puts the clamps on Bruce Thornton in the second half

Brad Underwood's solution? Sic Stojakovic on Thornton. With his size and length at 6-foot-7, along with his springiness, solid lateral agility and anticipation, Stojakovic has shown the ability to be a defensive stopper – if not consistently. On Tuesday night, though, he came through.

During his time sticking Thornton, Stojakovic was able to navigate endless screens and make his life extremely difficult (aside from one open look from deep that Thornton just missed).

Chasing Thornton around off-ball screens and working over the top in pick-and-roll situations before fighting back into the play, Stojakovic didn’t just make buckets tough to come by – he made it nearly impossible for Thornton to even get a shot off. And when he was able, Stojakovic did enough to keep Thornton from locking on target and heating back up again.

Shooting over Stojakovic is a much taller task – literally – than getting off a jumper over the 6-foot-2 Boswell. Not only did Thornton’s actual attempts become much tougher with Stojakovic on duty, but he was also deterred from even taking certain shots. And with his physical attributes, Stojakovic was also able to give Thornton slightly more cushion, making it even easier to keep him in front and out of the paint.

After it was all said and done, the Buckeyes’ sweet-shooting senior still managed 10 points in the second half. But Thornton's 4-for-7 shooting (including 0-for-2 from three) after the break was, by comparison, a huge come-down from his first half. Besides, there was no expectation of shutting him down; the Illini just needed to slow Thornton – and Stojakovic did just that.

“Stojakovic’s job defensively ... everybody’s going to look at his points,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said in the postgame press conference. "I thought the job defensively he did on [Thornton] maybe shocked his central nervous system a little bit. Just gave him a different look in the second half.

“Just being 6-foot-7 and [having] size, [he] picked him up full court and nothing was easy. Got over ball screens, ran him off the line – it’s a little harder, a little more difficult to jump over the top of him [for a shot]. ... Made him work.”

With the scoring threats surrounding Stojakovic, there is minimal pressure on him to be the go-to scorer night in and night out. In Illinois’ Big Ten opener, Underwood didn’t need Stojakovic to carry the offensive load (although his 17 points certainly didn’t hurt). But they absolutely needed him on the other end.

And if Stojakovic can show up regularly in the manner he did on Tuesday, building any semblance of consistency defending at that level, Illinois can play with – and have a chance to knock off – any team in the country.