CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Having received only 19 combined minutes in four Big Ten games this season, junior center Greg Stiemsma shook off the rust quickly and gave UW a much-needed boost in its 71-64 victory over Illinois at Assembly Hall Saturday.
Stiemsma played a career-high 21 minutes with senior forward Jason Chappell and sophomore Marcus Landry battling foul trouble for most of the game. He made the most of it with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
""It just so happens that Greg hit one, one turned into two, two turned into three, three turned into four,"" UW head coach Bo Ryan said. ""It's a shot that we practice off of the back screen.""
As Illinois tried to limit senior forward Alando Tucker's output, UW used those back screens off the swing offense to find Stiemsma open.
""Greg hits those. He's hit those in practice,"" Ryan said. ""The couple of shots he took a couple games ago when people were playing off of him were a little quick. [Today's shots] were right in the rhythm of the offense. That's what made those shots a little more high percentage.""
Stiemsma also had a battle on defense, guarding junior center Shaun Pruitt who led Illinois with 19 points. In previous games, Stiemsma got into foul trouble early, but he only committed two against the Illini Saturday.
""Stiemsma did a great job of protecting the rim anytime somebody decided that they were going to come in there,"" Ryan said. ""[Stiemsma] had better matchups against certain teams and that's what's nice about this group. They‘re chomping at the bit to get their chance. And a game like this is more suited for Greg Stiemsma than maybe the last game against Purdue.""
At times, Pruitt was unstoppable and with Chappell on the bench and unavailable to guard the big man, UW did not always look like they had a defensive answer.
""[Pruitt] got some looks and made some tough, tough post moves,"" Ryan said. ""I thought we had a body on him a few times and could keep him from getting what he wanted but he ended up doing pretty well.""
While Stiemsma did a solid enough job defensively to keep UW ahead, he would be the first to admit there is room for improvement.
""[Pruitt's] a good player, works hard in the post and fights for angles and stuff,"" Stiemsma said. ""It was definitely a big challenge. I think we did all right. There is always ways to improve but we got the win and that's kind of all that matters.""
The junior's offensive output continued UW's trend of finding an ""X-factor"" from game-to-game to give Tucker and senior guard Kammron Taylor help on offense. A year ago UW could never find a third scorer, but this season it seems that someone always steps up. Ryan said it's a game that should be called, ""Who's the real third scorer?"" and in some sort of a rotation the third scorer always seems to stand up.
""When you look at our bigs, it's like they are taking turns,"" Taylor said. ""Against Purdue the last game Jason Chappell stepped up real big and this game it's Greg Stiemsma. He kind of surprised me with the perimeter shots he was hitting and he hit two big free throws down the stretch and that just shows you the maturity this team is gaining.""
Both Chappell and Stiemsma have hit shots from outside in the last two games which could force teams to step out, leaving more lanes and opportunities for Tucker whose scoring has decreased slightly since the Big Ten season started.
