Illinois 66 Oakland 54

Illinois slowly pulled away from Oakland with a solid 2nd half effort

Illinois led by 7 at the half despite only shooting 4-17 from the three point line.

The Illini came out and played solid defense to stretch lead to 13 with 12 minutes left in the game & held on the double digit victory

Oakland controlled the pace of the game and was able to stay competitive all game.

Key Stats

Both teams struggled shooting- Oakland 37.7% Illinois 41.8% overall plus from deep Oakland 16%, Illinois 28%

Oakland scored 18 points off of turnovers.

Both teams combined for 36 turnovers. Some due to sloppiness and others to solid defense by both teams

Key Individual Performances

Illinois center Tomislav Isivic led the Illini with 20 points & 6 rebounds

Oakland power forward Allen Mukeba with several power dunks which displayed incredible strentgh

Illinois Ben Humrichous scored in double figures and hit 3 three pointers.

What it means

Illinois improves to 3-0 and will face Alabama next Wednesday

The Illini look long and lengthy this season. They seem to be poised to be a contender in the BIG 10

Greg Kampe reloads after a great run last post season. His team plays hard & executes great offensive sets. They will make a run in the Horizon League this year

Quotes

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, “Real valuable lesson for us tonight, not every game is going to be pretty and the ball isn’t going to go in, you have to grind and find a way to win a game.”

More from Coach Underwood, “Really impressed with our defense in the second half”

Illini guard Kylan Boswell, “Coach Underwood helped me change my defensive mentality”