No. 22 Illinois (10-3, 2-1) embarrassed No. 9 Oregon (12-2, 1-2) 109-77 on the road in its first game of the New Year. Every player on the floor contributed as Illinois looked like a real contender in the first game of its West Coast trip.
Track meet
The Illini entered Thursday as a fast-paced team. They were No. 26 in the nation in possessions per game and loved getting into some tempo. That number will likely go up for the Illini after facing the Ducks, as they ran up and down the court for 40 minutes.
Junior guard Kylan Boswell was the catalyst on offense and defense. Following his triple-double against Chicago State (0-15), the Champaign native was on fire. He hit a season-high four threes and finished with 15 points. He did it all while navigating a ridiculous amount of screens on defense as Oregon attempted to free up its scorers from a lockdown defender.
Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis and sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn kept the pace going. It was a full blitz on the opponents who weren’t prepared. There were multiple times when the Ducks didn’t get back in time on a made basket, and the Illini took advantage of the laziness. Quick inbound passes down the court led to a scrambling Ducks defense, and all they could do was watch as the Illini got to the rim with ease.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Junior guard Tre White was a benefactor of the fast breaks and had some fancy finishes at the rim. Whether it was reverse layups or putting spin off the glass, White got nearly everything to fall. He finished with 20 points on 8-11 shooting.
Illinois’ big, bad bench
Everyone entered the game talking about Jakucionis, but he had nothing to do with the first half of play. After leading Illinois in scoring in six of the last seven contests, Jakucionis got in foul trouble in the opening minutes, but the rest of the team stepped up.
A sign of a good team is its bench, and boy, did the Illini showcase theirs on Thursday night. Gibbs-Lawhorn and sophomore forward Jake Davis were the talk of Eugene, scoring 21 of the first 37 Illinois points.
Gibbs-Lawhorn matched the quick pace of the game and was as aggressive as he’s been all year. Relentless drives and confident jumpers from deep led him to 11 points on the day. His hustle also provided great defense, forcing multiple turnovers and firing up the bench.
The Campbell transfer was somewhat of a first-half surprise. Davis had 14 points all season entering the game and scored 12 in the first half alone. It was all effort, grabbing offensive boards and putting the ball back off the glass or quick cuts on inbound plays. He hit two threes as well, beating Oregon from everywhere on the court.
Second half explosion
Illinois came out of halftime in a fashion that resembled the prime Golden State Warriors. A 20-4 run took a seven-point halftime lead to 23, and Illinois never looked back.
Timeouts weren’t able to save the Ducks, as Jakucionis came back on the floor and went to work. He had five points and three assists in the opening minutes of the second but wasn’t alone in the heater.
All of the Illini were running the floor, and one player provided something fans hadn’t seen in a while. Graduate student forward Ben Humrichous broke a long drought with a very good game. He was working on his drives in the first half and hammered down a vicious poster. The second half was where he found his long-range shot. He hit four threes in the game and kept Illinois in front with a confident stroke.
Turning strengths into weaknesses
Oregon entered the game allowing opponents to shoot just 28.6% from three. It was one of the best in the country and something to watch heading into the game. Illinois didn’t blink twice, however, and torched Oregon from deep.
The Illini shot 16-29 from three, good for 55.2%. Five players made multiple threes during the barrage, and Oregon could not keep up. It was outscored by 33 from three-point range and was the difference in the game.
Illinois remains out west as it heads to Washington (10-4, 1-2) on Jan. 5. Tipoff is at 3 p.m.
@benfader7
