Illinois Basketball: Challenges for the Illini in Non-Conference Play

Two words comes to mind when I look at the Illinois basketball non-conference schedule: “Uh oh.” While some may look at the schedule and say this is a cake walk, I can guarantee you it is the farthest thing from that.

Parity has been the watchword in college basketball for a few years now, and it is parity that presents some big challenges for this relatively young and injured Illini team.

Let’s start with the first game, shall we?

On November 13, the North Florida Ospreys from the excellent Atlantic Sun Conference come to Springfield (where the Illini will play their first five “home” games while the State Farm Center renovations wrap up).

This conference boasts Florida Gulf Coast, a program you might recall from two years ago where, as a 15 seed, they upset the two seed, Georgetown, and then beat San Diego State in route to a Sweet 16 birth. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) also hails from this conference. NJIT beat Michigan at Ann Arbor last year as an Independent before joining the Atlantic Sun this year.

North Florida made their tournament debut last year and have four of five starters returning to wreak havoc this year. They are projected to finish second place in the Atlantic Sun, behind Florida Gulf Coast.

The Ospreys have two players on the All-Conference First Team, including projected player of the year, Dallas Moore. Moore is a junior guard who was the leading scorer last year with almost 16 points per game and he isn’t alone. The Ospreys boast a talented group of players.

So, after an exhibition game on November 8 with University of Illinois at Springfield, the Illini start the season with a potentially dangerous game against a experienced team of primarily juniors and seniors.

The Illini’s third game of the regular season is at Providence. Not unexpectedly, this will be a very tough game on the road against this Big East team.

Providence is a projected tournament team, but they are very young. The Friars have no seniors, and only two juniors. But one of those juniors is 6’4 guard Kris Dunn, who averaged 16 points and 7.5 assists last year. The Illini will need to isolate him and hope some of the Friars’ outstanding freshmen and sophmores don’t have break out games.

This will be a tough one, but the Illini are the better team… if healthy.

The Illini’s next game is November 21, against Chattanooga out of the Southern Conference. “Come on now,” you’re saying, “don’t tell me this will be a problem.” But I have to tell you, this is a problem.

The Mocs are projected to finish first in the Southern Conference, retuning four of five starters from last year. This is a team full of juniors and seniors. They have two players on the All-Conference First Team, including projected Conference Player of the Year, Casey Jones, a 6’5 Senior Guard, who averaged 14 points and 7.5 assists per game last year.

Much like North Florida, this is a team to be very concerned about. The Mocs play a tough form of defense that will limit the Illini’s scoring. It’ll be critical that the Illini match the defensive intensity and grind out another tough win against an underrated opponent.

After what should be a cake walk against Chicago State, the Illini play game six against UAB on a neutral court in Niceville, Florida at the Emerald Coast Classic Tournament.

If your bracket this past March was anything like mine, UAB was part of the reason it was busted by 5 PM on the first day of the NCAA Tournament. The Blazers, a 14 seed, defeated third seed Iowa State in the first round of the tournament and they did it with a very young team which returns all five starters this year.

UAB is slated to finish second in Conference USA. They are led by All Conference First Team guard, Robert Brown. A 6’5, 185 pound senior, Brown is a versatile and crafty player. Clearly, this is a deep and talented team that doesn’t need to rely on just one player. Look for 6’9, 210 pound William Lee to increase his numbers cleaning boards and scoring.

Finally, UAB has an extra incentive to beat the Illini in this game. The winner will likely play Iowa State. For UAB that would be a golden opportunity to show the world that last year was no fluke.

In my next post I will review the last half of the Illini’s non-conference schedule, starting with a review of both Iowa State and Virginia Tech, teams that play each other in the Emerald Coast Classic. Illinois will also greet Notre Dame on December 2, in the first game at the newly renovated State Farm Center. Yale, and then Missouri (in the generally hotly contested annual Braggin’ Rights game in St. Louis), rounds out the non-conference challenges.

Next: USA Today Coaches Poll Has It All Wrong

More from Writing Illini