Though it didn’t really feel like it, Illinois did win its first regular season game on Tuesday night over Jackson State, 71-47. The Illini were without Trent Frazier (shoulder), Andre Curbelo (concussion protocol), Austin Hutcherson (tailbone) and Kofi Cockburn (suspension), leaving head coach Brad Underwood with a lot of room to experiment. Cockburn will miss another two games to serve the rest of his suspension, while the rest are day-to-day.

Despite being without arguably their three best players, Illinois was able to play well defensively to control the game and come out with a convincing win. Coleman Hawkins played well all over the court, and the whole team stepped up defensively.

All three freshmen got playing time, four different players ran point guard and three different players ran the center position, which all shows how deep the Illini could possibly be throughout the season.

Kenpom #2

This refers to where Kenpom ranks Illinois in adjusted efficiency, and that was put on display tonight, even without Trent Frazier, the Big Ten preseason defensive player of the year. 

Da’Monte Williams, per usual, led the way defensively, but it was truly a whole team effort. Coleman Hawkins was able to come up with steals, and transfer Alfonso Plummer, who has struggled defensively in his college career thus far, also looks to be improving. 

If the Illini want to hit the ceiling they believe they’re capable of this year, they’ll have to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, and that looked possible Tuesday night. Brad Underwood does a phenomenal job getting the most out of his players both defensively and aggressively, so to see the Illini hold the Jackson State Tigers to 47 points without two of their best defenders was a nice way to start the year.

Depth!

OK, Jackson State isn’t very good. But, to see that many guys play meaningful minutes was encouraging to see how deep Illinois could be.

All three freshmen played, but what I was happiest to see was Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk play and make a difference. BBV has been on the roster for over two years now and hasn’t been able to be effective due to injury. After tonight, I think with a little more work, he could be able to make a difference.

Omar Payne played a bigger role with Kofi Cockburn out, which he’ll have to do even more so in the coming games against Arkansas State and Marquette, which should be a lot more difficult than Jackson State. He played well defensively, solidifying that he’ll play real minutes this year, but his offense and hands must improve. He finished with fewer minutes than BBV.

Offense: B-

This is hard to grade when your three most important offensive players are all out, and the Illini didn’t score a mind-blowing amount by any means. But, we did see some solid offense from guys that’ll have to be able to  score this season. 

Jacob Grandison showed his ability to play inside and out, and same goes with Coleman Hawkins. It was also nice to see Luke Goode hit the first three of the year for Illinois, who may play more than I originally expected this season, and RJ Melendez knock one down. Da’Monte Williams hit the three ball, as well as Alfonso Plummer, which is expected of them. 

I didn’t like the teams’ inability to make a bucket near the end of the first half, but again, it’s hard to judge the offense while short-handed and playing against mediocre competition. Still, I’d say their performance should have fans optimistic. 

Defense: A

I liked what I saw. I hit on a lot of it a little earlier, but Illinois has to be great defensively to compete for a deep postseason run this year, and it seemed tonight they’re capable of doing so.

Williams was good. Grandison was good. Payne was good. Hawkins was good. Goode was good. Plummer improved.

No Frazier or Cockburn meant other players would have to step up, and they did. Holding any team to 47 points is worth being proud of.

Coaching: A 

Illinois didn’t have to make any adjustments this game, so this is solely off all the experimenting Brad Underwood did.

Three different point guards, three different big guys and all three freshman playing is nice to see to test different depths at different positions. He also put a variety of different lineups on the floor, just trying things out.

In a game that was hard to judge for the Illini, Underwood did his role almost perfectly by coaching players tough and rotating guys in and out frequently. He may be a top-10 coach in the country.

@JPietsch14

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