Illinois' Kylan Boswell Earns Odd Description From Texas Tech's Grant McCasland

Illinois’ Kylan Boswell is a lot of things on the basketball court: a downhill threat, a shooter, a crafty whistle-drawer and, most importantly for the Illini, an exceptional defender.

He is also, according to Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland, a stump – and in the best way possible.

Grant McCasland wowed by Kylan Boswell's physicality and toughness

“He is low … he’s a stump,” said McCasland in the postgame press conference after Illinois’ 81-77 victory over Texas Tech on Tuesday. "And physical and low to the ground, and he’s a really good basketball player. He’s tough. He’s competitive."

In particular, McCasland seemed to most appreciate (or maybe be most acutely traumatized by) Boswell's knack for drawing whistles. “He can get fouled, and he knows how to bait fouls," McCasland said after Boswell went to the line for 12 free-throw attempts – three times as many as the Red Raiders earned as a team.

But despite Boswell’s 22-point showing – which included three triples and nine made free throws – it was his defensive impact that was most influential in helping his club stave off McCasland's Red Raiders.

After yet another JT Toppin bucket in the second half – the Texas Tech forward finished with 24 points after halftime and 35 on the game – Illini head man Brad Underwood made an unexpected adjustment. Although Illinois boasts a handful of frontcourt options to match up with the interior-oriented 6-foot-9 Toppin, it was actually the (generously listed) 6-foot-2 “stump” in Boswell who switched on to Toppin.

In hindsight, it made sense. Even the 7-foot-2 Zvonimir Ivisic, who had three blocks in the first half, couldn’t slow down Toppin once he made a catch in the paint. Toppin consistently got to his baby hook or a push shot in the paint and, with his ultra-soft touch, found nylon almost every time.

The only option left? Don’t let him make the catch in the first place. And who better to draw that challenge than Boswell? His quickness allowed him to scramble around fronting Toppin while help defense hovered near to deter any over-the-top pass. When positioned behind, Boswell's thick, low-to-the-ground frame rooted out Toppin to make him uncomfortable. And when Toppin did make a catch, Boswell was able to use his base and strength to push him off the block and all the way out to the mid-post. 

is a lot of things on the basketball court: a downhill threat, a shooter, a crafty whistle-drawer.

“And so they pushed up underneath him [Toppin] pretty good and got him extended on the post and made it difficult for us," he said. "What it did is, it stalled us. We had a harder time getting into action. And we improved over the course of it to get to something different, but it did mess with the flow for a few stretches. Give them credit for making that adjustment.”

By the time Texas Tech made its own adjustments, it was already too late. Toppin and Illinois’ Andrej Stojakovic went shot for shot down the stretch, but the Red Raiders could no longer afford to exchange buckets against an Illini squad that had already built a safe enough lead.

Although it was Stojakovic’s offensive heroics that will be remembered, it was Boswell’s defense against the Red Raiders – and Underwood’s outstanding call to switch Boswell on to Toppin – that allowed Illinois and Stojakovic to even be in a position to put the game on ice.