Dec. 11—CHAMPAIGN — Tre White skying for a tip dunk over Wisconsin’s Carter Gilmore brought the State Farm Center crowd to its feet Tuesday night.
It went beyond a highlight reel play. White getting the automatic double of offensive rebound and two points also sapped some of the momentum the Badgers had gained with a Nolan Winter three-pointer that cut Illinois’ lead to four points with just less than 3 minutes to play.
The Orange Krush started chanting White’s name during the ensuing timeout. Partly because White dunking on Gilmore’s head was a hype-worthy moment. Partly because the junior guard was piecing together the best game of his Illinois career to date.
White’s two best games before Tuesday night both came against Ohio Valley Conference opponents. He had 13 points in a blowout win against SIU Edwardsville and 16 points and eight rebounds in another rout of Little Rock.
But White had been a non-factor the last two times Illinois took the court. He played just 10 minutes against Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day, didn’t score and has many fouls as rebounds (two each). He also managed just four points and two rebounds in 15 minutes in his Big Ten debut at Northwestern.
So the State Farm Center crowd chanting his name Tuesday night wasn’t something most would have predicted. White got a second round after the game. After he’d put the finishing touches on 23 points and eight rebounds and Illinois had wrapped up an 86-80 victory against No. 20 Wisconsin.
“It’s no coincidence because he had two of the best practices he’s had all year,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “He showed up on Saturday and was extremely active in just our film breakdown. Sunday he was the best player on the court in practice. It was his attitude in practice. He didn’t hang his head about the Northwestern game. He played well in the Northwestern game, so I knew I had to do some things different. I had to unleash that.”
Underwood said he hadn’t done a good enough job coaching White. Hadn’t put him in the right positions to succeed. At least on the offensive end. White’s defense didn’t waver even if his playing time and offensive productivity did.
White had both working against Wisconsin. He made 2 of 3 three-pointers, turned a team-high four offensive rebounds into second-chance scoring opportunities and got to the free throw line more than any other player on either team. All while helping limit Wisconsin scoring leader John Tonje — a top 15 scorer in the country — to an inefficient 14 points on 5 of 15 shooting.
“He’s, for sure, the reason why we were able to maintain our lead,” Illinois guard Kylan Boswell said. “When he plays at such an elite level like that everybody feels it on the court. He’s a great leader for us. I’ve been trying to grow with him, our chemistry. Trying to get him active. He makes his own way throughout the game with all the hustle plays that he makes.”
White said he simply tried to stay ready as his playing time dipped in the Arkansas and Northwestern games. The 6-foot-7 guard, who joined Illinois this season after one-off years at USC and Louisville, understands the depth of the Illini roster. If he doesn’t produce, there are other options. Particularly with five-star freshman Will Riley at his position.
“Just trying to hold my hat on making winning plays so when my name is called I’ll be ready in that same mindset,” White said. “I feel like that’s how I impact winning just doing a bunch of different things.”
White was ready from the opening tip Tuesday. He buried a three-pointer from the corner after Wisconsin jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. White wound up with 14 points at halftime playing more minutes in the first half against the Badgers than he had the entire game at Northwestern.
“I feel like we did a great job of playing to our next actions and being unselfish early,” White said. “That’s kind of hard for any team to guard like that when you have such valuable, interchangeable pieces.”
