1. I really enjoyed this game. It was a hard-fought, back and forth game, and a great one to win on the road. It wasn't a perfect game, but the Barn can be a tough place to play. Obviously we needed this win.
2. Malcolm Hill turned in another monster game. He just does it all. Again, he is not a perfect player, and he struggled a little bit early with his shot, but he came through with a huge game overall.
3. Kendrick Nunn struggled for a lot of the game, but when it mattered he hit two huge threes. It wasn't his best game, but it was enough.
4. Michael Finke had a fantastic game on the glass with 16 rebounds. Wow! That was a major factor in the game.
5. JCL continues to provide key scoring as a freshman, and we don't have a lot of scoring depth. He made a difference.
6. Mav was a force in this game. Without him, we lose this game. He has continued to slowly but surely get better -- and in this game he looked really good.
7. After a slow start, we really played well in the first half when our 2-3 zone just shut down the Minny offense. We played well for a lot of the second half, but we got down by 5 late when we went cold and had some turnovers -- including some frustrating calls. At that point this team showed a major gut check and took the game to overtime. That was big for this team on the road.
8. We came out on fire in the overtime and buried the rodents. That was fortunate because we made it a little more exciting than it should have been at the free throw line late, but we had a good lead and they could not overcome it.
9. Now the team comes home and gets ready for tOSU. A win against them is next on the agenda!
Go Illini!