Illinois Put NBA Player on Scout Team to Prepare for Indiana Basketball's Lamar Wilkerson

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Twice in two weeks, Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries touted his star, sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, as a future NBA player.

Illinois, in advance of its Sunday afternoon matchup with Wilkerson and the Hoosiers, prepared as such.

Former Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr., a two-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree and first-round NBA Draft pick in 2024 who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, returned to Champaign during the NBA All-Star Break and practiced with the Fighting Illini.

Illinois used Shannon to represent Wilkerson on the scout team, giving the Fighting Illini's defense a preview of what it had in store. Senior guard Kylan Boswell, who missed seven games due to a broken right hand before returning Sunday, took the assignment of guarding Wilkerson and, in turn, Shannon in practice.

"He was helpful for the last two days for me for sure," Boswell said about Shannon's return. "Because that's a huge thing for me and my confidence. I was a little worried sometimes about my hand and things like that the last few days. But (getting) to guard him and him guarding me throughout practice definitely helped my confidence for sure."

Wilkerson, who DeVries feels should be in the running for Big Ten Player of the Year, still had a strong day in the Hoosiers' 71-51 loss Sunday afternoon at State Farm Center in Champaign.

The Ashdown, Ark., native scored a team-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, though one of the nation's best marksmen went only 2 of 7 from beyond the arc. He added three rebounds, tied for the second most on the team, to go along with one assist and one turnover in 39 minutes.

But Illinois prevented Wilkerson's patented microwave runs, or stretches where he takes over games. In the Hoosiers' previous game, a 92-74 win over Oregon on Feb. 9, Wilkerson scored 10 consecutive points in less than three minutes in the first half.

Wilkerson's largest personal run against Illinois was a 5-0 spurt early in the second half, which trimmed the Hoosiers' deficit to 7 points and kept them within striking distance. The Fighting Illini responded with an 11-0 run, ended by a Wilkerson jumper, and Indiana never pulled within single digits again.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood said the Hoosiers possess "spurtability," or the ability to go on big runs. Wilkerson is the driving force behind Indiana's knack. Illinois knew if it were to limit runs, it had to limit Wilkerson.

Boswell acknowledged Illinois made it a point of emphasis to keep Wilkerson from getting open touches and quality looks at the rim. And while Wilkerson ultimately recorded his 14th game this season with 20-plus points, Underwood felt his team's defense rose to the occasion.

"Defensively, maybe as good as we played in a while against a team that's very hot, and a team that's very, very good," Underwood said postgame. "Wilkerson is a pro. Even though he got 21, I thought we were very good, and obviously the insertion of Kylan Boswell had some impact on that.

"I thought he and Ben [Humrichous] were tremendous in that area, guarding him."

Wilkerson didn't score over the final 12 minutes Sunday afternoon.

"I just tried my best to make things a little difficult for him," Boswell said. "He got a couple easy ones, free ones, in transition, which I was frustrated with myself in. But I mean, at the end of the day, he's a really good player. He still got 21."

Indiana's offense largely struggled apart from Wilkerson. Two other Hoosiers reached double figures — fifth-year senior forward Tucker DeVries scored 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the field, and senior forward Sam Alexis notched 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting — but the rest of the team combined for just 6 points.

The Hoosiers shot only 40.8% from the field and were 6 of 24 from 3-point range. They averaged a miniscule 0.944 points per possession and lost the rebounding battle, 38-25.

DeVries said he thought Indiana had "some really good possessions" and created quality shot opportunities, but good looks didn't often translate to points.

The Hoosiers struggled with the Fighting Illini's size — they're the nation's tallest team with an average lineup of 79.8 inches — and couldn't get many chances to run in transition or capitalize on the broken floor because of Illinois' offensive rebounding success. Thus, Indiana largely faced a set defense in the half-court, which favored Illinois and its monstrous size.

Indiana needed to shoot well from distance, which has become central to its identity. But instead, the Hoosiers struggled. They made only six 3-pointers, tied for their fourth fewest this season, and their 25% clip from beyond the arc tied for their fourth worst mark.

"I thought our shot selection from three was really good," DeVries said postgame. "We had some great opportunities. We had a couple late shot clock ones that are just whatever — we had to get something up at the rim. But the ones we took within possession were good looks. Just didn't knock them down."

Wilkerson was Indiana's best source of production Sunday. He arrived in Bloomington as one of the nation's most sought-after transfer portal additions, and he's reached a new level of late — he's scored 120 of Indiana's 296 points the past four games, a 40.5% rate.

But on Sunday, the Fighting Illini feel they did enough to slow Wilkerson's torrid pace. Wilkerson, as great players do, still produced. Yet perhaps without Shannon's presence or Boswell's earlier-than-expected return from injury, his production is even better.

Instead, the stars — and high-level practice preparation — aligned, and Illinois forced Indiana into one of its worst offensive performances this season.