Illinois traveled to Ole Miss on Sunday for a charity exhibition game to kick off their 2024-25 season, and it was not a pretty game for the team.
As most expected, freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis and junior guard Kylan Boswell formed the starting backcourt. Also, graduate forward Ben Humrichous and freshman center Tomislav Ivisic started at the four and five respectively. Junior forward Tre White, who head coach Brad Underwood has described as one of his most “consistent” players, snagged the last starting forward spot over freshman forward Will Riley and junior guard/forward Ty Rodgers, both of whom many believed could also start.
The Rebels started hot, hitting three treys on their first three possessions, going up 9-2 early on the Illini. Illinois got on the board later, with Ivisic and Jakucionis sharing Illinois’ first nine points. Jakucionis hit an impressive one-legged shot off of a euro step to get around a defender at the elbow.
However, the team started sloppy with the ball, turning it over multiple times. This allowed Ole Miss to score 20 points in the first five minutes. Sophomore big man Carey Booth was the first man off the bench for Illinois, checking in for Humrichous only a few minutes into the first half. Riley, sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Rodgers all entered the game as well a few minutes later.
The Illini could not get the ball to fall into the net. Jakucionis, Humrichous and Riley all missed consecutive shots, followed by a moving screen on Boswell and Rodgers throwing an errant pass out of bounds with under 13 minutes to go in the half.
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Ivisic reentered the game and showed defensive control, disrupting a lob attempt and staying in front of a turnaround jumper while contesting strongly. Moments later, however, White could not show that same control. He fouled Ole Miss senior guard Matthew Murrell on a three-pointer, adding to Illinois’ defensive woes.
With 11-and-a-half minutes to go, Ivisic ended the Illini’s scoring drought, dunking the ball via a dropoff from a driving Boswell in the paint. Gibbs-Lawhorn followed that up with an aggressive driving layup and a corner three on the fast break a minute later. With under nine minutes to go, Ole Miss led 38-19.
The ball pressure from Ole Miss continued. Illinois didn’t do much besides watch the ball handlers dribble by themselves on many possessions. The movement on the offensive end from the Illini was lacking, and it showed in their lack of scoring.
With four minutes left in the half, White seemed to hurt his leg, limping toward the bench. He would later return to the game.
Following the stop in play, Boswell knocked down an open three at the top of the key. A couple of turnovers later, the Illini went on a 7-0 run, easily their best string of offensive possessions in the first half. On consecutive plays, Gibbs-Lawhorn crashed the rim to put back a missed three and then stole the ball and flushed it home on the opposite end. Ivisic then found Jakucionis moments later, who knocked down a three. At halftime, Ole Miss led Illinois 51-35.
To start the second half, Boswell scored inside on the first play. But, Jakucionis turned the ball over twice in a row on the next couple of possessions. Turnovers still seemed to be an issue for the new-look team in their first game.
The lllini had multiple good looks from three off of strong ball movement, but the shots still wouldn’t fall until the 15-minute mark, when Gibbs-Lawhorn hit a three. With 12 minutes left in the game, the shooting really picked up for Illinois. The team hit three triples in a row, with Riley knocking down back-to-back shots and Gibbs-Lawhorn finding the net once again.
With less than seven minutes remaining, Jakucionis and freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr. had the play of the afternoon despite it being simple. Jakucionis slowed down and drew in two defenders. He executed a pocket pass to Johnson, who furiously slammed it home. Moments later, Johnson dunked again, giving him seven points.
In the final minutes of the game, Ivisic hit two threes, showing his impressive range. White also knocked down a three, but it was too little too late for Illinois. When the final buzzer sounded, “SEC” chants rang throughout the stadium, with Ole Miss taking the win 91-74.
Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Illini with 15 points, while Ivisic and Jakucionis had 12 each. The real killer for Illinois was their 22 total turnovers, compared to Ole Miss’ nine. Also, despite being touted as a strong shooting team, the Illini only shot 30% from three. The team took 10 more attempts than Ole Miss, who shot 52% from long range.
The Illini’s first regular season game is on Nov. 4 against Eastern Illinois in Champaign. Underwood will surely be working on offensive flow and taking care of the ball with his team as they prepare for games that will count, but it seems like this team will take time to reach their full potential this season.
@sahil_mittal24
