Illinois 84, Minnesota 71 POSTGAME
Tale of 2 halves. I like the second half a whole lot better. 
Ugly first half
Fun 2nd half
On to the next
Fun 2nd half
On to the next
That's we're talking about - that was actually fun to watch the Illini play a full 40 minutes - great game!!
Played 20, sleepwalked 20.
Chris Yates
Recruiting Correspondent
- Michigan
My favorite play of the game was when we got that commitment from Da'Monte Williams. :thumb:
Whew!!
I can step back from the illini cliff. That first half was bad. That second half was terrific! What's this I hear about Damonte?
I can step back from the illini cliff. That first half was bad. That second half was terrific! What's this I hear about Damonte?
Nunn with 25 spot
ivwilsoniv
- Aurora, IL
I hope we look back at halftime of this Minnesota game as the turnaround point for Illini basketball. A commitment from DaMonte then domination...
Nunn back in top 10 in conference in scoring. Hill already there of course.
frankfortillini
- Frankfort, IL
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Tuned in late in the first half and just watched them sleepwalk through it. Put me in a bad mood. The second half was excellent, but only got me back to neutral. Then I logged in, just because its what I do and I heard about Da'Monte Williams for the first time and jumped through the roof ! Awesome day
Good team ball the second half. Really have felt that this is something that has been missing with this team, and last year's as well, for the most part. There have been flashes all along but the guys really seemed to be enjoyed playing tonight and looking out for each other.
74% from the field is better than pretty good tbf. That's got to be school record territory if I had to guess.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Awesome day, it is hard to beat a win and a commitment to the O&B.
1. Hey, the title isn't "All's Well That Starts Well." The Bard knew what he was talking about! It's how it ends that matters.
2. Kudos to JCL for keeping us in the game in the first half. We were down by 8 at the intermission, but it could have been a lot worse.
3. The designated opponent to have his career game against Illinois this time was Stephon Sharp with his 19 points -- and it really was a career night for him because he had scored a total of 4 points in his entire career until tonight.
4. I know it was Minny and they were short-handed, but Malcolm played well tonight. It was nice to see him get back on track.
5. Kendrick also had a big game. When that duo is cranking, Illinois is actually a pretty decent team.
6. Khalid Lewis closes out his home career at Illinois with a win. Thanks, Khalid, for giving your best effort in what was no doubt a tough season for you. Best of luck to you and the other seniors going forward.
7. We certainly did better in the second half, but we still need to work on defense. It was more active and it was effective against Minny in the second half, but we need to be better.
8. Well at least we closed out the home season on a high note. With the other good news today, it made a rough season not seem so dire.
9. On to the remaining road games. Hey, I'm not greedy (anymore). Give me one out of two and I won't whine too much.
Go Illini!
2. Kudos to JCL for keeping us in the game in the first half. We were down by 8 at the intermission, but it could have been a lot worse.
3. The designated opponent to have his career game against Illinois this time was Stephon Sharp with his 19 points -- and it really was a career night for him because he had scored a total of 4 points in his entire career until tonight.
4. I know it was Minny and they were short-handed, but Malcolm played well tonight. It was nice to see him get back on track.
5. Kendrick also had a big game. When that duo is cranking, Illinois is actually a pretty decent team.
6. Khalid Lewis closes out his home career at Illinois with a win. Thanks, Khalid, for giving your best effort in what was no doubt a tough season for you. Best of luck to you and the other seniors going forward.
7. We certainly did better in the second half, but we still need to work on defense. It was more active and it was effective against Minny in the second half, but we need to be better.
8. Well at least we closed out the home season on a high note. With the other good news today, it made a rough season not seem so dire.
9. On to the remaining road games. Hey, I'm not greedy (anymore). Give me one out of two and I won't whine too much.
Go Illini!
Agreed. He played well
Agreed. Good effort and some nice setups. He looked a lot more interested tonight. Good on him for staying involved. Maybe there's more substance to this bunch than we sometimes give them credit for.
Now...is a split on the road and one win in the BTT too much to hope for? And maybe news of another 2017 commit or two in the next 10 days??
