Illini Overwhelm Lewis, 83-50
By Jeff Mayfield

[November 02, 2019]  And so, it begins. The 2019-2020 Illinois basketball campaign while not yet quite official is basically underway. In talking to the voices of Illini basketball before the contest, Brian Barnhart and Steve Kelly, there is plenty of optimism that this could finally be Illinois’ breakout year.

And the coaches seem to be of that persuasion too. I spent several minutes with Illini Assistant Coach Geoff Alexander before the game and he said the Illini have really been bringing it during practice and they understand what it will take to get back into the NCAA post-season. But first things first.

The Illini did glide to a pulsating 83-50 win over Lewis University last night, but not before a sluggish and squeamish first half that saw the Illini trail for most of the of the first half. And that wasn’t ugly part. At times the Illini trailed by as much as 12 points! However, sometimes when you’re playing a team that you know you should over-power and early in the year when you’re trying to play so many players, turnovers and mistakes can pile up. Friday night’s first half was an accurate case in point.

It didn’t help that Lewis’ player was doing his best imitation of Larry Bird out there, draining long 3’s on his way to an amazing 15 points by intermission.

Anyway, the Illini put 5 players in double figures which we all hope will be one of this team’s best strengths-lots of weapons. The Illini finally warmed up and hit for over 50% shooting for the game and nearly 60% in the second half. New Freshman Kofi Cockburn, a 7’ 285-pound center, led the way with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots in his first Sate Farm Center appearance. Trent Frazier blazed the nets for 13 tallies including three long 3’s and Andres Feliz and Giorgi Bezhanishvilli, both threw in 12 points to go along with 6 and 7 rebounds respectively. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk got in for a few minutes late in the game and showed off his European long-range trigger by going 3 for 3 from distance on his way to an 11-point outing.

So, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the Illini righted the ship and cruised to victory. The bad news is the sloppy play and unforced turnovers is something that obviously will have to be cleaned up moving forward.

Takeaways

This team has a lot of potential and could have a much higher ceiling than most of the experts have granted up till now. However, a few things will have to happen in order for this team to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

1 It will have to remain relatively healthy. That is true in any season, but especially this one as they are trying to get back into the dance. Recruiting is improving and they will get to a point at some later juncture where they will have enough depth, but aren’t quite there just yet. It will be interesting to see how quickly some of the younger players mature and improve.

One coach told me that Lincoln’s own Jermaine Hamlin has more than held his own so far in practices this season. It will be exciting to see his development and what contributions he will make. That is if he is not redshirted. The LDN’s own Greg Taylor has convinced me that IF Illinois could start redshirting a couple of players each year that as they get bigger, stronger, and better shooters all it does is help Illinois climb the ladder and get back into some national conversations.

2 Take care of business. This is something the team has failed to do for several seasons, but may now be manned in such a way as to have the horses to get it done. The schedule should not be overall as brutal as last year’s. IF Illinois can take care of business during the non-conference portion of the ledger, win their home games, and then just battle their way through our brutal league, that will all go a long way towards making it back to the NCAAs.

3 Hope that there are enough basketballs. This team looks to have several solid players and sometimes that may be more difficult to deal with than you can imagine. Why the difficulty? Have you ever tried making 9, 10, or 11 players all happy with their playing time? IF there is something harder to do in sports, I’m not sure what it is. And look at how it explains the hundreds of players transferring every year. While I’m not a big fan of so many transfers, I have personal experience here, and I’m sharing with you it is close to an impossibility. Winning games and having a lot of fun along the way could be the magic tonic to overcome what of today’s toughest challenges.

There are more, but we’ll let these three suffice for now. It was great to see all the guys back on the court [other than Tevian Jones, who Illinois will need to make a deep run] and its truly time for Illinois Basketball!

Opening night is set for Tuesday versus Nicholls State at 7pm.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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