Following a tumultuous season that featured the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, Illinois menʼs basketball kicked off its 2023-24 season with a 116-65 win over Ottawa. In the Illiniʼs first ever meeting with the Braves, fifth-year guard Terrance Shannon Jr. led the way in scoring (18) while freshman forward Amani Hansberry notched a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double.
The transfer portal has been a reliable source of players for head coach Brad Underwood in recent years and that was reflected in the starting line up. Fifth-year forward and Southern Illinois transfer Marcus Domask stood alongside senior forward Coleman Hawkins in the frontcourt. Fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who was also acquired via the transfer portal last year, rounded out the starting five with junior guard Luke Goode and sophomore guard Ty Rodgers.
Illinois did not come down with the ball off of tip-off but quickly forced a turnover and took the lead thanks to a strong left handed layup by Shannon. Continued success on defense along with eight quick points from Goode and Domask, who sank his first shot as an Illini, resulted in a 10-2 lead within the first three minutes.
Goode sank his second three shortly after, having eight of Illinoisʼ 15 points, before falling victim to a wave of substitutions. The lone starter on the floor was Shannon, who got the crowd fired up with a thunderous alley-oop to redshirt junior forward Dain Dainja on the break (19-4).
The Braves managed to make up a bit of ground once Shannon was taken out, but this was quickly countered by a platoon substitution from the Illini that put Shannon, Hawkins, Goode, Domask and Hansberry on the floor. This lineup immediately stopped the bleeding and found Shannon for a wide open jumper (23-10).
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A pair of experienced players traded baskets for the Illini a bit later, as Hawkins dropped in a three for his first points of the game before fifth-year guard Justin Harmon put himself on the board with a floater. Hawkins answered with a slam on the break and Harmon followed suit with a pair of free throws drawn from pushing the pace in a similar fashion (38-19).
Illinois coasted its way into the half and led by 17 or more all the way until the buzzer rang. A well rounded scoring distribution resulted in to the Illini leading 59-30 at the break and eight Illini boasting at least five points. Domask was one of the eight but also managed to reel in a team-high five rebounds and assist a team-high five baskets.
Just 10 seconds into the second half, Goode got right back to where he left off and drained another shot from deep. Despite struggles from the Illini offense, that basket ultimately started an 11-0 run that was capped off by a wide open dunk by Hawkins and a timeout from the Braves (70-30).
Unfortunately for Ottawa, the regrouping did not change the results and Illinois tacked on six more points before its run was stifled. The Bravesʼ first basket of the half came after almost five minutes and was immediately canceled out by a three from Harmon. Freshman guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn was came alive down the stretch and ended up with 13 points, including the basket that simultaneously broke triple digits and increased Illinoisʼ lead to a game-high 51 points (101-50).
It would have been difficult to find a member of the crowd who thought the game was still up for grabs at half, but the 17-0 opening run and lack of a response from Ottawa over the following 15 minutes sealed the deal. After 40 minutes of domination, Illinois walked out with a 116-65 victory and had seven players score 10 or more points. On top of that, nine Illini went perfect from inside the arc, which Underwood mostly attributes to the high number of threes the Illini took (42) along with effective passing leading to better shots.
“Nah… it just happened,” said Underwood. “Realistically we’re not gonna take that many threes in most games but I do think we’re a team that wants to find the paint, we work very hard on that. There’s gotta be a great balance. The way they guarded us tonight, we didn’t get as many cuts as we’ve been getting in practice. You just kind of take what the defense gives you and I think that’s a strength of this team, we’ve got guys who can pass it and elevate each other. We’re turning down good shots to get great shots.”
Illinois menʼs basketballʼs preseason slate will continue on Oct. 29 against the Kansas Jayhawks in the Maui Strong Relief Matchup.
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