As of around 2:00 or 3:00, we were told Ayo was warming up at Crisler and likely
to play. I am sure the Michigan team was told the same thing.
Fast forward a few hours...Ayo is scratched. And I’ll admit I thought “Well, there it is. Illinois has no chance now. Not without their All-American guard”.
Instead, Illinois came together, gelled and gave 110% effort top to bottom of their roster. They did it with Ayo on the bench rooting them on. They soared onto the court and, after a slow start, steamrolled us.
As for us, I think hearing “Ayo isn’t playing” caused our guys to let down, lose the killer instinct & edge, and think “We got this” before the game even started. History is full of upsets in exactly that type of situation.
Reminded me of the 1990 NCAA Tourney against Loyola Marymount (I was there). LMU was “playing for Hank Gathers”, their deceased captain who had led the NCAA in scoring AND rebounding and died on the court just 2-3 weeks earlier. Surely no team missing that guy had a chance against the defending champs who had only lost Glen Rice and was returning Mills, Vaught, Higgins, Robinson, etc. To this day, LMU still holds the record for most points scored in an NCAA game. We scored over 100 points ourselves...and got blown out anyway.
Just some food for thought as we wait to see how the team responds.
to play. I am sure the Michigan team was told the same thing.
Fast forward a few hours...Ayo is scratched. And I’ll admit I thought “Well, there it is. Illinois has no chance now. Not without their All-American guard”.
Instead, Illinois came together, gelled and gave 110% effort top to bottom of their roster. They did it with Ayo on the bench rooting them on. They soared onto the court and, after a slow start, steamrolled us.
As for us, I think hearing “Ayo isn’t playing” caused our guys to let down, lose the killer instinct & edge, and think “We got this” before the game even started. History is full of upsets in exactly that type of situation.
Reminded me of the 1990 NCAA Tourney against Loyola Marymount (I was there). LMU was “playing for Hank Gathers”, their deceased captain who had led the NCAA in scoring AND rebounding and died on the court just 2-3 weeks earlier. Surely no team missing that guy had a chance against the defending champs who had only lost Glen Rice and was returning Mills, Vaught, Higgins, Robinson, etc. To this day, LMU still holds the record for most points scored in an NCAA game. We scored over 100 points ourselves...and got blown out anyway.
Just some food for thought as we wait to see how the team responds.
