The Illinois Basketball team played in another exhibition game yesterday and this time they blew out their competition.
While this wasn’t a regular season game just yet, that is next Friday, the Illini still impressed with their 95-51 victory over Lewis.
Illinois didn’t mess around this time in the second half and extended their 27-point halftime lead to a 44-point win.
This was a crisp win with the Illini playing well in just about every facet of the game.
As a team, Illinois shot 57.6-percent from the field. That is a great number that will likely go down when the seasons starts, but if they can stay near there then the Illini will win a lot this year.
Illinois also shot 34.6-percent from the 3-point line as well. That is a fantastic number that will cripple teams as they try to match the Illini in scoring.
The Illini also shot well at the free-throw line. They were 90-pecent from the charity stripe and that is a crazy number.
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Shooting that well at the free throw line will enable the Illini to get extra points and you can just look at last year’s schedule to see how much a few extra points would have made a huge difference.
Now let’s get to the individual performances in this game. Illinois doesn’t have to rely on just a few players to score points this season.
I love the way this team is constructed. The have the tough big men who can rebound. They have the great point guards who can dish the ball. And they also have the sharpshooters who can put up 20-points on command.
In the game against Lewis, Illinois big men showed how the offseason workouts really paid dividends.
The leading rebounder for Illinois was Michael Finke with 9 rebounds for the game. You would not have seen that last season. He struggled to rebound the ball because he just wasn’t strong enough.
Maverick Morgan and Malcolm Hill both were the next leading rebounders with 7 rebounds apiece.
The entire team improved their strength this offseason and I have to give credit to the strength and conditioning coach, Adam Fletcher.
Fletcher has been posting pictures of the physical improvements of the players throughout the offseason. But, really that was all talk and no substance at the time.
Now, Illinois fans are seeing that offseason work paying off. Illinois looks to be a rebounding machine and outrebounded Lewis 47-25.
On the scoring front, I was impressed that 6 players scored double-digit points in this victory. The leading scorer was Jalen Coleman-Lands with 16 points.
Lands shot 50-percent from the field and was 3-of-8 from the 3-point line. These numbers are greatly needed in the regular season this year.
Tracy Abrams continued where he left off two years ago with 10 points and 3 assists. He also shot 4-of-5 from the field.
One player I am keeping an eye on is freshman Te’Jon Lucas. In his preview of the upcoming season, I wanted him to be getting 11-15 minutes.
In this game against Lewis, Lucas received 10 minutes and was only 0-of-1 from the field. He did have 2 rebounds and 1 assist, though.
I would like to see him getting some more points and a few more assists, but there is plenty of time for him to continue to progress throughout the regular season.
Overall, I am impressed how the Illini played in this game despite it being against Lewis. They played well and it was crisp, which is most important.
Hopefully, Illinois can continue this crisp play in the regular season. The sky is the limit for this team and We Will Win.
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