Gordo ranks area hoops: Illini, Billikens, Tigers all take wrong turn

“We’ve got winners,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “They’re all state champions. Matthew (Mayer) and Dain (Dainja) are national champions. Terrence (Shannon Jr.) is an Elite Eight guy. All those high school kids have won. We try not to ever recruit anybody who has not come from a winning program. That helps because they know how to operate in the locker room and get along. This is a really close group. Tonight it was some guys off the bench who impacted us. We’ll take it.”

Then the Illini left Underwood glowering with their ugly 74-59 loss to Penn State at home Saturday.

“I’ve known we were going to have nights like this with an extremely young team,” Underwood said. “I think we’re the second-youngest in the power five. I knew these nights were coming. I can live with all of that except the complete lack of leadership and the complete lack of effort that was given today. Period.”

So it goes in college basketball. Things can turn bad in a hurry.

And there was plenty of suffering to go around the region this week.

SLU suffered an ugly loss at Iona and an even more disappointing loss at home to Boise State, ruining its bid to build non-conference record that would impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Missouri badly lost its Border War to Kansas, thus erasing the excitement first-year coach Dennis Gates built with his 9-0 start against weak competition. A capacity crowd at Mizzou Arena created an electric atmosphere ... and then the Tigers kicked loose the power cord with a hapless performance from opening moments of the much-anticipated game.

SIU Carbondale suffered a home-court loss to Indiana State in Missouri Valley Conference play. SIU Edwardsville came up just short at home against Bradley and on the road against Illinois State and Missouri State lost at Saint Mary’s and at home to Purdue Fort Wayne.

Ugh.

Here is how the region’s Division I teams stack up:

Illinois (7-3): Baylor transfer Matthew Mayer had his breakout game for the Illini against Texas with 21 points and three blocked shots. Prior to that, Mayer scored in double figures just once all season — when he had 11 points against UCLA. Freshman Jayden Epps came off the bench to add 11 points and three assists in 31 minutes. Coleman Hawkins played 42 minutes against Texas and produced nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots while turning the ball over just once. Now the bad news: The Illini appeared sleepy during their 11 a.m. home game against the Nittany Lions. They mustered one brief surge the second half before fading badly. Illinois missed 16-of-23 shots from 3-point range while Penn State shot 12-for-24 from behind the arc. Terrence Shannon Jr. was nearly invisible with four points and three turnovers in 26 minutes. The Illini have some work to do.

SLU (7-4): Iona is a very tough place to play on Rick Pitino’s watch. The Billikens knew that going in, but they still fell hard on Tuesday, 84-62, while suffering a rough 5-for-19 shooting performance from 3-point range. Yuri Collins scored 14 points, but dished just four assists and turned the ball over five times. Javonte Perkins went 2-for-10 from the floor and 1-for-5 from beyond the arc. On the plus side, Gibson Jimerson scored 15 points and Francis Okoro grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots. Then the Billikens started slow against Boise State Saturday at home, scoring just two points in the first 7 ½ minutes. Energetic Terrence Hargrove Jr. gave the Billikens a brief spark at both ends of the court, but they never caught fire during their 57-52 loss on Saturday. SLU has fallen out of sync in its half-court offense, which has left Collins forcing plays left and right. Perkins’ comeback from knee is not progressing, at all, and Okoro’s low-post offense remains an unfinished project.

Missouri (9-1): The Tigers were tactically unprepared and physically overwhelmed in their 95-67 loss to the Jayhawks Saturday. Two-time Missouri Valley Conference scoring champion Isiaih Mosley remained stapled to the bench. Tre Gomillion turned the ball over six times in 16 minutes. DeAndre Gholston missed 7-of-11 shots, suffered four turnovers and committed four fouls. Kobe Brown scored just four points. Kansas easily beat Missouri’s ball pressure to convert open 3-point jumpers and free runs at the basket again and again and again. Nick Honor, the one Missouri transfer addition with high-major experience, scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and dished five assists. But most of his teammates looked hopelessly out of place against the defending national champions.

SIU Carbondale (6-4): The Salukis rallied in the second half at home to Indiana State Wednesday, but they fell short in a 74-71 MVC loss. Marcus Domask scored 16 points, but he suffered five turnovers. Xavier Johnson scored 13 points but turned the ball over four times. Lance Jones grabbed a team-high six rebounds, but missed 11-of-14 shots from the floor. The Salukis finally got 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward J.D. Muila back from their injured list Saturday during a 74-68 victory at home against Alcorn State. That will improve their depth as conference play heats up. Usual suspects Domask (16 points, six rebounds, seven assists) and Jones (18 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals) led the way in that win.

SIU Edwardsville (7-4): Bradley allowed 55 or fewer points during a five-game span with the tight defense that makes them one of the MVC favorites. And the Braves through a blanket on SIU Edwardsville in a 56-54 victory Tuesday night. Shamar Wright (11 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists) had a solid all-around game for the Cougars. Then SIU Edwardsville fell just short against another MVC foe with a 77-71 loss at Illinois State Saturday despite getting 20 points from Ray’Sean Taylor.

SEMO (5-5): The Redhawks started fast against Purdue Fort Wayne while building 11-3 and 16-10 leads. But they faded in the last 30 minutes of the 89-68 loss at home Wednesday despite getting 25 points from Phillip Russell and 23 from Israel Barnes. SEMO’s bench got outscored 45-7 in the game. Purdue Fort Wayne knocked down 13-of-32 shots from 3-point range and shot 49.1 percent overall. SEMO had the weekend off before hitting the road this week for games at Arkansas State and (gulp) Iowa.

Missouri State (4-6): The Bears went to California Wednesday for a tough assignment at West Coast Conference powerhouse Saint Mary’s. Missouri State suffered a 66-46 loss with Alston Mason and Chance Moore managing to score 12 points each. Then Moore scored 23 points as the Bears suffered a 65-61 loss Purdue Fort Wayne at home Saturday. Missouri State launched 41 shots from 3-point range and missed 34 of them. Donovan Clay has a strong all-around game, but he has not emerged as the go-to offensive threat the Bears needed after suffering heavy losses in the transfer portal.

Lindenwood (4-6): The Lions got a much-needed break in their schedule last week. Next up will be a Saturday game against Division III Knox College before they head westward for games at BYU and Utah Tech before jumping into Ohio Valley Conference play.