On the tail end of a two-week stretch that featured five games, No. 10 Illinois men’s basketball claimed a 70-62 win over Indiana. The Illini rebounded from an overtime loss to the Northwestern Wildcats while the Hoosiers dropped their third game straight.
Illinois is still elite despite recent troubles
As seen during fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr.’s suspension, Illinois is extremely capable of having other guys step up on any given night. That ability has been hampered ever since Shannon’s return as he simply has not been as productive as others through three games. He has made just one three-pointer since returning (1-14) and is 9-28 from the floor overall. However, the Illini are still pulling out close wins despite seeing such atypical play from Shannon and will only continue to improve.
Illinois’ starting five players are indicated with *.
* Marcus Domask (A)
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It was a double-double night for Domask, who turned in a complete performance against the Hoosiers. As has been the case lately, the Illini ran through Domask particularly on offense. With four assists and 16 points on the night, the graduate student continued to demonstrate his ability to lead Illinois. Defensively, Domask recorded a steal and grabbed seven of his 10 total rebounds on the defensive end of the floor. It was a strong showing as the Illini continue to turn to Domask to lead when the going gets tough.
* Coleman Hawkins (A-)
Monstrous defensive performances are becoming natural for Hawkins. The California native notched his second straight two-block, two-steal performance and has 16 steals over his last four games. On the other end, Hawkins pulled down four offensive rebounds, which turned into two second chance points. Hawkins’ 11 points earned him a spot as one of four Illini in double figures but was most impressively responsible for drawing the final two fouls on Indiana’s leading scorer Malik Reneau (21). The Hoosiers kept it close in the first few minutes without Reneau, but ultimately the Illini pulled away in the final minute in some part due to his absence.
* Terrence Shannon Jr. (C)
Shannon clearly looks to be in the process of regaining confidence and continued to look rusty on Saturday against Indiana. The fifth-year guard shot 2-10 from the field and 0-4 from three while committing four fouls and turning the ball over twice. However, Shannon still managed to put up 12 points as a result of clutch free throw shooting (8-10) late in the game to ice the contest. The Chicago native also managed to secure six rebounds, a few of which came in the final minutes when the Illini really needed them.
* Ty Rodgers (B)
Minutes were sparse for Rodgers once again, despite him being an efficient scorer and effective rebounder while on the floor. In just 16 minutes, Rodgers sank three of his five shot attempts and pulled in the fourth most rebounds on the team (5). On one occasion, Rodgers directly turned his offensive rebound into second chance points by going right around Reneau and maneuvering around his towering wingspan.
* Quincy Guerrier (C-)
Saturday afternoon tied Guerrier’s lowest amount of minutes all season. Itʼs hard to point to any specific moments that led to such a significant reduction in minutes, as he was first subbed out less than three minutes into the game. He returned just over four minutes later and grabbed three rebounds, an assist, a steal and two points at the free-throw line before checking back out. That was essentially it for the graduate forward, who ended the game with a season-low zero field goal attempts.
Luke Goode (A)
Goode filled many of the minutes vacated by Guerrier’s peculiar day. Despite missing his first three attempts from outside, Goode’s confidence was unwavering. The Indiana native closed the half with a quick 2-2 burst from three-point territory before sinking two of his four second half attempts. The Illini were 4-15 from deep without Goode (3-8) and outscored the Hoosiers by eight points while he was on the floor.
Justin Harmon (B)
In his 29 minutes on the floor, Harmon picked his moments. Despite 2-9 shooting from the field, Harmon’s buckets came at clutch moments in the game. His triple helped boost the Illini’s advantage at the end of the first half as the team began building a lead, and his second bucket came in the form of a late floater to help put the win out of Indiana’s reach. Illinois was +24 with Harmon on the court, the highest +/- of any Illini on Saturday.
Dain Dainja (N/A)
In five minutes, Dainja finished a two-handed dunk and missed a floater. The big man also managed to record a steal in his limited appearance.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (N/A)
Gibbs-Lawhorn shot 1-2 from the field in his three minute cameo but made an impact with his one make. The freshman’s three-point make helped spark a 9-0 run during a point in the second half when Illinois really needed it.
Niccolo Moretti (N/A)
Appeared for two minutes on the court against Indiana and committed a foul.
