My Two Cents: Will Illinois Have Different Plan for Trayce Jackson-Davis on Epic Day?

Illinois chose to not double-cover Trayce Jackson-Davis in January, and he made them pay with 35 points in the Hoosiers' blowout win. The two teams get together again on Saturday in Bloomington, and surely Brad Underwood will have a better plan, right? Or not. Who knows.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There's no denying that Indiana's most impressive performance on the road this season came at Illinois last month, when the Hoosiers rolled to an easy 80-65 victory. It was their first win in Champaign in four years.

It was a weird night, because Illinois coach Brad Underwood chose to single-cover Indiana star Trayce Jackson-Davis. He thought his own center, Dain Dainja, could handle the task.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

All Jackson-Davis did was score 35 points on 15-of-19 shooting. To say he was unstoppable was a major understatement. He scored practically every time he touched the ball, and Underwood never changed the defensive game plan. It was an easy win, part of an 8-1 run by the Hoosiers that got them back in the Big Ten race and, once again, a factor on the national scene.

The two teams get together again on Saturday, as the Hoosiers look for a season sweep. Indiana has been very good at home lately, winning five straight league games. And for Illinois to break that streak, you'd think Underwood would have a new plan.

But will we see that? We'll have to see.

Underwood is well aware of how great Jackson-Davis is, and the impact he has on games. But he also made it very clear that Trayce's 35 wasn't the difference in the game. There were other issues as well. 

"The first ball game, Trayce was literally the show. I thought we didn't do much good in that game,'' Underwood said. "That's not to discredit them, Trayce was phenomenal. But it's a game where we missed 13 layups and 14 free throws. When we had opportunities to score, we didn't keep it close. 

"When we had opportunities to stop a run, we missed free throws. I thought we were pretty solid on most of their other guys, with the exception of Trayce. But he's playing at a national MVP-type level and we've got to be aware of that going into next game.''

Underwood stuck to his game plan, he said, because he feared Jackson-Davis would pick apart his defense with crisp passes out of the post. There's something to be said for that, because Indiana is shooting 38 percent from deep, second-best in the Big Ten.

It's pick your poison.

"He's the best passing big man in the country,'' Underwood said of Jackson-Davis, who has 84 assists on the year. "It's what happens when you have experience, you have size now, strength. He's been in the weight room for four years. You pair that with his athleticism, and now he's seen every coverage. He has seen singles, he's seen doubles, he's seen it from the baseline, he's seen it from the top. 

"And you know, he's not afraid of the trap. He's not afraid to split them. He's an elite, elite passer out of double-teams, so it's a little bit of pick your poison, and that's why he's a pro. Pros make good plays and elevate their teammates, and he's elevated that team because of his passing.''

Indiana is 18-8 on the season and 9-6 in the Big Ten. Illinois is a tick behind at 17-8 and 8-6. Catching Purdue for the Big Ten title is a longshot, but staying in the hunt for a double-bye in the conference tournament is a worthy goal. The top four seeds don't play until Friday.

One less game always helps.

Underwood still thinks they can get away with single coverage if the defensive effort and intensity are there. That wasn't the case in Champaign.

"The efficiency with twos is one thing, the hard twos and the efficiency of [Jackson-Davis'] twos, I think he was 8-for-8,'' Underwood said. "I think at the eight-minute mark he had two baskets, and then it became too comfortable. We let him catch it on his spots. We let him catch it deep, or one or two dribbles and he got it where he wanted. 

"Twos can beat you when you're that efficient at it. He's been that, no matter what. Double teams, singles, zone, man, I mean he's been that pretty much all year. So that's what a pro looks like from an athleticism standpoint. He's a guy that athletically, there's not many like him in the country.''

Jackson-Davis has ramped it up his senior year, and he's got 2,055 career points now in an Indiana uniform. At some point on Saturday, he's going to pass in own coach, Mike Woodson, for No. 5 on the all-time scoring list. 

It shouldn't take long.

The youngsters don't know anything about Mike Woodson's playing career at Indiana from 1976 to 1980. I do, of course, because he and I were in the same class. I saw every game he played at IU. He left at No. 2 on the all-time list, trailing only Don Schlundt. 

Woodson probably would have been Indiana's all-time leading scorer if he hadn't missed two months during his senior year following December back surgery. He was a great scorer, a 6-foot-6 slasher who had a great mid-range game and the quickness to attack the basket any time he wanted.

Woodson has been passed three times on the scoring list, first by Steve Alford in 1987, then Calbert Cheaney in 1993 and then A.J. Guyton in 2000. So it's been 23 years since anyone has knocked him off.

He's fine with it being Trayce. He loves coaching him, loves watching all the improvement that Jackson-Davis has made in his game. 

"When we started a little over a year and a half ago, I thought he was great last season on both ends of the floor,'' Woodson said. "I go back to when I took the job and I was watching him. There was just a lot of holes in his game to me, mainly from the defensive standpoint of not blocking shots, as athletic as he was, not plugging the holes from a defensive standpoint. These are things that I saw from a defensive standpoint.

"Then offensively, I just thought he needed to learn how to play with more juice, more energy. I thought he did that last season. This season, just at another level, man. He's doing things. I mean, I just don't see a lot of holes in his game now. Everybody talk about he doesn't shoot jump shots. Well, shit, he does everything else. I mean, he's playing at a high level, man.''

Indiana is still without Xavier Johnson, and it was announced on Friday night that Terrence Shannon Jr. — the guard who torched Indiana for 26 points in January — won't play after suffering a concussion on Wednesday in the Illini's lost at Penn State.

It's going to be a fun Saturday, if only to see the adjustments that both teams make, That's what makes rematches fun.

It's also going to be enjoyable seeing Jackson-Davis pass Woodson on the scoring list. They've been ribbing each other about it for a few weeks now. Trayce did the same thing last March with Randy Wittman when he was passing him.

He's enjoyed his march up the scoring ladder, and had a lot of fun with it. And he's not done yet. We're running out of chances to witness his greatness — and least I think we are — so Saturday will be a great day at Assembly Hall.

Be dialed in.

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