Only game on the non-conference schedule that scares me is Tennessee, they looked very good yesterday and it’ll be on the road. Think we match up very well with FAU & we seem to play good in MSG. Marquette at home will be tough but I like our front court and depth and home crowd to pull us through. Think Coleman & Brad will be very locked in on bringing the bragging rights trophy back to its correct spot… see 10-1 non conference & 12-14 wins in league… good enough for a top 4 seed at worst come March.
Illinois 82, Kansas 75 (Exhibition) Postgame
We didn't....I said we beat wisconsin by the same amount whether we shot hot or cold from 3
L vs IU, the rest I listed in that list were wins
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We shot 41% from three point range against a top defense.
Our PG position does not look to be an issue whatsoever.
Hero-ball nowhere in sight.
The transfers looked great.
We beat the #1 ranked team in the nation, only trailing for a few moments in the entire game.
Anyone who is "meh" after last night... I just can't...
Our PG position does not look to be an issue whatsoever.
Hero-ball nowhere in sight.
The transfers looked great.
We beat the #1 ranked team in the nation, only trailing for a few moments in the entire game.
Anyone who is "meh" after last night... I just can't...
I didn't watch the game or read many posts yet. Did the teams actually play their starters most/all of the game?
1. Beat an NAIA team by 50+ points 
2. Beat the #1 team in the nation
So far, everything’s going according to plan.
2. Beat the #1 team in the nation
So far, everything’s going according to plan.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
Yeah, the game looked like it was in Late February.
- well done. Thank you to everyone who attended. I would have come but I live in SoCal.Missouri has owned us past few years. Would be great to get a win in St Louis.
One of the toughest things to watch last year... Glad I was at a bar to drown my sorrows in real time
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
As a few of us were saying in the off-season, you don't have to have a stellar individual point guard, as long as you have the roles of a PG covered -- bringing the ball up, starting the offense, leadership, taking control in late shot clock situations, etc. The team did a lot of that as a collective. I found it interesting that even well before "crunch time", Domask seemed to be our back-up PG. And he did fine.
But I also found it interesting that for as much as everyone is talking about 5 guys contributing, and player movement, and "ELITE" ball movement, etc. we only had 8 assists on 25 made FGs. That's a low % for a team with great sharing/movement/teamwork. Maybe it's a quirk of the stats for this particular game but I found it surprising, and I hope it improves.
Illinois vs Kansas - Men's Basketball - 10/29/2023 - Box Score - Big Ten Conference
The official box score of Men's Basketball vs on 10/29/2023
bigten.org
I understand the "It's just an exhibition." brake-pumping. But I don't think anyone is saying we should be anointed the #1 team in the country based off last night's win or that we should have Final Four expectations.
Did we require stellar games from our best players to win? Yeah, but to beat the #1 team in the country, you need your best players to play well. That's always been true whether the game is played in October or April.
What last night showed me is that we have more dudes and less egos this year. We weren't outclassed by Kansas in the talent department. The inside outside, right to left ball reversals and movement off the ball was night and day compared to last year. Keep that up and we'll be tough to beat whether the shots are falling or not.
Kind of cliche but if everyone can just keep their eyes on the team prize and not individual goals/accolades, I think we're in for a pretty fun ride.
Did we require stellar games from our best players to win? Yeah, but to beat the #1 team in the country, you need your best players to play well. That's always been true whether the game is played in October or April.
What last night showed me is that we have more dudes and less egos this year. We weren't outclassed by Kansas in the talent department. The inside outside, right to left ball reversals and movement off the ball was night and day compared to last year. Keep that up and we'll be tough to beat whether the shots are falling or not.
Kind of cliche but if everyone can just keep their eyes on the team prize and not individual goals/accolades, I think we're in for a pretty fun ride.
+1. I think the first 10 minutes both teams were trying some stuff out but the rest of the game looked like a real game.
Assist total was definitely lower than I would have liked, but we did shoot 32 free throws. Good ball movement can beat good defense and lead to fouls/foul shots rather than an assist, so I think our assists will be better than last night assuming ball movement remains the same.
Thought Ty did great actually. Highest assist total on the team (albeit only 3) and I couldn’t find TO stats but pretty sure he had a positive A/TO %. Only had his pocket picked once or twice and one I remember Harris poking away on a Ty layup sure looked like a foul the way it squirted out of Ty’s hands. All ball generally goes straight down rather than squirt out.
Anyways. Lots of room for growth but like what I saw for an exhibition game.
The athletic department webpage has the box score after every game. With TO and minutes played. 
fightingillini.com
Men's Basketball
The official Men's Basketball page for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini
fightingillini.com
The same way i felt after the UCLA win last year
Bigtex
- DFW
We know it was an exhibition game & it wasn't perfect, but the thing that jumped out to me was that this group looked very fundamentally sound. Made a lot of "winning plays." That's to be expected considering the age/experience on the team. There will certainly be ups & downs this year but looks like it's going to be an easy team to root for, especially compared to last year's team.
We also basically played six guys
Govoner Vaugn Fan
- New Orleans
I think it is now time to award Hunter D. a Participation Trophy for his games vs the Illini. We could call it the Sisyphus award for continuing to play in the face of perpetual futility.
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Another reason for the low assist number, I don’t recall a single “and-one”. Lots of those beautiful passes inside didn’t fall as they were fouled. Even eight seems low though. The passing looked much better than recent history.
You know I like the way this Underwood guy is working his lineups based on the time of the game. Rodgers is interesting at the point, up until the last 5 minutes. Using Harmon with Domask at guard the last 5 minutes? Let’s see 2 fifth years seniors who will value the ball and hit free throws? Sounds good to me?
QG is a very nice player at the end as he also seemed to be able to score when we were in a drought?
I really thing (other than a dazzling point guard) we have a lot of nice pieces that can be used based on different situations?
blackdog
- Champaign
Something I was paying attention to during the game. It is still a lot of individual plays to get to the rim or get shots but the difference is that it comes off of ball movement first to get the defense moving. Last year it was one guy dribbling up top for 20 seconds before trying to make a play. Driving lanes are a lot easier when the ball moves side to side a couple times or goes inside then out.