Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini are hot, and after after winning 3 straight Big Ten matchups, the Illini make it a dominant 4th vs the struggling Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Illinois walked away from Minneapolis with a sturdy 78-60 win, which is to be expected vs a struggling 7-9 Minnesota team with a new coaching staff, but the Illini have shared some struggles of their own in recent weeks. That chip however, seems to most certainly been removed from the Illini’s shoulders, for the time being. Defense, and selfless play was the name of the game in the dominant win vs the Gophers, proving Illinois has really embraced giving up playing “me” ball in exchange for “we” ball.
Notes from the Illini’s 78-60 win
The Illini spread the love. Ten different scorers contributed to the Illini’s 78 points. This, including Walk-On freshman Paxton Warden, who scored his first career points vs the Golden Gophers. You also saw a big contribution from Deerfield-Mackinaw Junior Big Man Brandon Leib, who entered last nights game towards the middle of the first half due to multiple fouls being called earlyon Dainja and Hawkins. Leib only scored 4 points on the night in his 13 minutes, but his big “And 1” foul gave the Illini a ton of energy when frustration from fouling was starting to set in. Leib had a couple of blocks on the defensive end as well, and overall gave Illinois some quality minutes. Of the 10 scorers vs Minnesota, Dinja, Mayer, Shannon, and Epps all found themselves in double digit scoring. There has been a deep struggle to spread points arounds, and Illinois has relied on big games from individual players many times this season, so it was a refreshing to see a game where the Illini were able to contribute from even more than the 7-deep.
Mayer is really good. Matthew Mayer has been a really good basketball player his entire career, dating back to his time at Baylor, but has really come on as a leader in an Illini Uniform as of late. Mayer led all players in last night’s matchup in scoring, and rebounding, going 19-10 for really solid double-double. If Matt can continue the upward trend of his play that he has shown as of late, he will continue to climb draft boards as a really intriguing prospect for NBA teams, as well as continue to make this Illini team better and better.
Dainja Zone. Dain Dainja continues to be a stud for Illinois on the defensive end of the court, as well as a consistent double digit scorer, after putting up 11 vs the Golden Gophers. Foul trouble set the Illini front-court back slightly, and minutes were limited for both Dainja (21) and Hawkins (17). If Dain can continue to contribute this kind of scoring and defensive play, he will always be a nightmare matchup on scouting reports for weeks to come.
Freshman Flare. Jayden Epps and Sincere Harris have been a pleasant surprise in terms of productivity as freshman thus far, and last nights game was no less impressive. Epps went for 10 points and 4 assists on the night, and really kept things flowing on both offense and defense. After Skyy Clark’s departure from the program following the Illini’s loss to Northwestern, many questioned how well Epps would be able to handle the pressure of playing point off the bench in a Big Ten offense as a freshman, but Jayden has really answered the call thus far, and done so in impressive fashion. Starting freshman Point Guard, and defensive hound Sincere Harris had another really solid showing himself against the Gophers, scoring 7 points to pair with 3 assists and 8 rebounds on the night. His smothering defense forced multiple turnovers vs the Gophers, and helped break the flow of the Minnesota scoring in the second half of last night game.
Speaking of Smothering Defense… Illinois only allowed the Gophers to put up 28 points the entire second half, and was making Minnesota look outmanned for the Majority of last nights game. Minnesota ended the game with a 36% FG percentage, went 3-13 shooting from behind the arc, and a 23% 3-point shooting percentage. A pretty harsh showing of defense imposed upon the Gophers from the Illini, that Illinois will be dang proud of on film. It will be much needed next week vs Trayce Jackson-Davis, and the Hoosiers from next door in Indiana.
Takeaway
Illinois has really started to find their groove, and after winning four-straight in the Big Ten, Brad Underwood’s has shown that they are capable of winning as a cohesive unit. Early in the season vs Texas and UCLA, there were flashes of a team that can be really good if they can all mesh together into one “Everyday Guy” culture as we have seen. After a period of almost total loss of cohesion, and growing pains, this team has once again found a spark, and currently look like one of the most dangerous units in the Big Ten.
What’s Next
Illinois will look to ad to its streak of four-straight wins vs Big Ten opponents by facing the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday (1/19) in Champaign at the State Farm Center. The Illini will tip off at 7:30 on Fs1, and it will be a good ol’ fashioned border battle right here in Central Illinois. Trayce Jackson-Davis vs Coleman Hawkins and Dainja will be a heck of a matchup to watch for all college basketball fans here in Big Ten country. The 11-6 Hoosiers have struggled over the past month or so dropping 3 of their last 4 matchups. However, the win came in their last game vs Wisconsin, where the Hoosiers dominated the Badgers 63-45. Surely, this will have created some forward momentum for Indiana, who had such high praise leading up to the 2023 season, chosen by many to win the league. This would be a nice win for Illinois to add to their belt, and to give them even more momentum to carry into a pretty favorable schedule going forward for Brad Underwood’s team.
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