Basketball normally isn’t analogous to poker, but in its last exhibition game before the regular season starts, the Illinois men’s basketball team used the slow play to establish a lead it would never surrender en route to a 75-66 victory over West Chester.

Jump shots weren’t falling early — only two field goals were made by the Illini at the 13:28 mark in the first half — but a dogged persistence in attacking the basket allowed Illinois to connect on 16 free throws and propel it to a 36-8 run to end the half leading 44-20.

A significant chunk of that run came by way of the active hands of forward Tyler Griffey, who forced four steals in the first half that were often punctuated by transition layups on the other end.

“I thought we were more aggressive (on defense) for sure,” Illinois head coach John Groce said. “We call it having a presence on the ball, and I thought that led to some turnovers. We were disruptive.”

Those last 15 minutes of the first half were impressionably productive on the offensive and defensive ends, Groce said, with opportunistic defense creating easy baskets on offense.

Groce wasn’t as complimentary about the rest of the game. He described his team’s effort as “sporadic” and estimated that they played 20 minutes of quality basketball in the exhibition.

In the other 20 minutes, West Chester gamely outhustled Illinois, throwing varied defensive looks like a full-court press and zone to confuse the Illini. The culmination of these lackluster minutes came with 1:18 left in the game, with Groce reinserting his starting lineup once West Chester cut Illinois’ lead to 10.

One of Illinois’ point guards, Tracy Abrams, acclimated positively to the pressure, leading Illinois with 17 points and turning the ball over only once. The performance displayed a marked difference from the earliest practices in the season when Abrams was slow to pick up on a new offensive system under Groce.

“Learning the system, understanding the pace of when I need to go fast and when I need to go slow,” Abrams said of the difference between those early practices and now.

The other player shouldering point guard duties, Brandon Paul, turned the ball over five times on two assists, contributing to a larger problem of turnovers from the entire team. Illinois finished with 21 of them, nine more than Groce would like to see from a game. Some of those turnovers — like the breathtaking putback dunk attempt from Joseph Bertrand that was called an over-the-back foul — Groce said are acceptable. But many of them were a product of the aforementioned sporadic effort he saw from his team, or “unforced errors” in Groce lingo.

“We still have a lot to do,” Bertrand said. “We came out today and had some spots where we played good and other spots we played not as good.”

Bertrand scored the next-most points for Illinois with 13 on 6-of-8 shooting, describing his role on the team as someone who can slash to the basket within the halfcourt offense.

Illinois kept the Warriors at a comfortable distance for much of the game, but the turnovers and inconsistency will sink the Illini once they face tougher competition.

“Like coach said, we only came out tonight and played 20 minutes,” Abrams said, moving his had to mimic a balancing scale. “You got to be at a level pace at all times, no matter what happens.”

Thomas can be reached at [email protected] and @ThomasBruch.