Championship – The Illini (9-4) had no downside downing Bethune Cookman on Thursday in an 85-52 win to shut out of non-conference play.
Brad UnderwoodHis group cruised to a 10-0 lead earlier than the primary media timeout and by no means appeared again. Eleni scholar Sensor Harris He sparked his group early in his faculty profession. He flied defensively, hitting the glass and standing on three factors in the course of the opening minutes.
Illinois had contributions throughout the board towards the outclassed Wildcats. All 9 gamers who noticed the sphere within the first half scored a bucket and the general level distribution was very balanced.
The Illini went on an 18-2 lead late within the first half to open up a lead of over 30 factors. The deficit by no means fell beneath 27 alongside the way in which.
Dane Dinga He led the Illini with a season-high 22 factors, whereas taking pictures 8-for-10 from the sphere throughout his first begin of the season. Terrence Shannon Jr (13), Harris (12), Coleman Hawkins (11) and Jayden Epps (10) All of them scored in double digits as effectively.
Illinois shot 49 from the sphere. Bethune-Cookman went simply 29 % from the sphere with 20 turnovers.
Underwood has made some changes to his beginning lineup and sport plan (unfold offensively, much less defensively change), after dropping Mizu final week. Eleni is a freshman and place to begin guard Sky Clark He sat out on account of a shoulder damage he sustained in follow. RJ Melendezwho was affected by a sore shoulder, was additionally ignored of the beginning line-up. He nonetheless performed 24 minutes off the bench, however was solely 1-for-8 from the sphere.
what do you imply: Little or no…and that is okay. Bethune-Cookman is likely one of the worst D1 groups within the nation. No excellent news, which is a welcome change for this group. The Illini did a greater job of working and sharing the ball offensively, as they doubled down on Underwood’s patented offense run within the half space. We’ll see how they fare subsequent week towards Northwestern, who’ve been one of many higher defensive items in faculty basketball to this point. It is encouraging to see Harris proceed to progress and make his mark on this group.
Sport star: Dane Dinga Devours the primary antagonists like Kenneth Freed As soon as at OVC. He can do no matter he desires in these video games. Clearly, the Baylor deal has labored towards higher opponents as effectively, however his minutes noticed him dip earlier than a strong exhibiting towards Missouri (9 factors and 6 rebounds). With the Illini needing a extra constant attacking strategy and a extra concerted effort to get the ball to the paint, he positioned Dainja within the beginning lineup on situation. He continues to be tremendous environment friendly across the basket. Dainja got here out taking pictures 74 % of two-point subject targets, which was fifteenth highest within the nation.
Sport stats
- Illinois gained on factors within the paint battle, 42-22.
- Illinois had 17 assists in 29 made.
- The Illini went 8-for-28 in three, which places them in 27 % (29-for-109) of depth over their final 4 video games.
- Weapons worn by Illinois managers: 1.
- Earned free nuggets: all of them.
Do not overlook: The Illini can nonetheless decrease their turnover. They’d 15 towards an opponent that ranked 349th in adjusted defensive effectivity. They’ve solely gone underneath 15 turnovers as soon as of their final 5 video games (Penn State).
What then: The Illini will leap again into Large Ten play subsequent week after they journey to Evanston to tackle Northwestern (10-2, 1-0) on January 4th. since then, Chris CollinsThe group has gained 5 straight instances. This included a 70-63 upset win at Michigan State Stadium within the league opener. Northwestern does it on protection. The Cats are ranked eighth within the nation in adjusted defensive effectivity score on KenPom, of which Northwestern is projected to be a one-point favourite towards Illinois in the mean time.