Illinois Basketball: Illini’s Non-Conference Schedule Reviewed: Part 1 of 3
By Eric Bruce
The Illinois Basketball team starts exhibition play in a little over a week. It’s time to take a look at the first third of the non-conference schedule.
The Illini play two exhibition games before regular season play.
On October 30, the Illini play Washington University out of St. Louis. I think we all know Whitman had a big influence on that, seeing that he was AD there before Illinois hired him. Next, the Illini play Lewis University on November 4.
Illinois finally starts regular season play on November 11 against Southwest Missouri State. This is the first of fourteen non-conference games.
While the Illini don’t need to run the table in these games, they need to get pretty darn close to that.
On December 27 the Illini will face Maryland in the first of eighteen B1G conference games. As good as the Illini will be this year (check out the roster), the competition in the B1G will be fierce, as usual.
Illinois Fighting Illini
And in many of these games, it’ll be an “any given day/night” scenario that could see exhilarating victories and heartbreaking losses.
I’ll review the B1G schedule before conference play begins. But first, we need to take a look at the non-conference schedule. I’ll do that in three parts, covering the first five games here, which all occur in Champaign.
Generally speaking, the non-conference schedule presents some real challenges and opportunities for the Illini.
The first four games should be the proverbial cakewalk, but after that, it gets very tough with games against competent mid-majors, and major conference heavyweights, and five neutral court games before B1G play begins for the Illini…on the road.
Regular season play starts on November 11 against the Southwest Missouri State Redhawks.
The Redhawks, of the Ohio Valley Conference, went 5-24 last season. The OVC is a 12-team, two division conference.
Lindy’s puts the Redhawks finishing last in the West Division, which is easily the worst division of the two. The vast majority (8 of 12) of the Redhawks are newcomers meaning this is a team very much still finding its way.
This is the first of four games that should see the Illini stretch their legs.
Game 2 is against the Norse of Northern Kentucky University, out of the Horizon league. The Norse finished 9 and 21 last season. Lindy’s projects them to finish 9th out of ten teams.
There are a couple of interesting things about Northern Kentucky that the Illini should pay attention to.
The Norse are led by second-year coach John Brannen. That name may not be instantly familiar to Illini fans, but there is a connection.
Brannen was an assistant coach at Alabama two years ago, before taking over as interim head coach at the end of the season after Anthony Grant was fired.
In his first game as head coach, Brannen faced the Illini in the first round of the NIT. The Tide slaughtered the Illini in that game on March 17, 2014, 79-58.
It was an embarrassing end to a very disappointing season. Now, you probably remember, sorry.
Brannen won’t find the same success against the Illini this year. But, the Norse are a seasoned team, with one of the best mid-major recruiting classes in the country coming in this year.
The Illini will need to be on their toes, but they should prevail by a comfortable margin.
After the Norse, the Illini host a Division III team, the McKendree Bearcats, on November 15.
McKendree is a small school in Lebanon, Illinois just outside St. Louis. I don’t know why the Illini are playing the Bearcats, but I suspect it once again has something to do with Whitman.
At any rate, this game does nothing for the Illini. With all due respect to the Bearcats, the Illini should be playing a better team.
Hopefully, this is an opportunity to rest the starters and give the bench significant playing time. That is the only value I see coming from this game.
Next up is the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament. The Illini play the Detroit Titans on November 18.
The Titans hail from the Horizon League. They went 16-15 last year and are predicted to finish 5th in the conference this year according to Lindy’s.
Detroit returns three starters and brings in a 6-foot-11, 240-pound freshman center. Something that might be a bit of a difference maker is that Detroit is now coached by Bacari Alexander, formerly an assistant coach at Michigan for six years. Alexander knows Illinois.
This match has “trap game” written all over it as it falls on the heels of a game against Division III McKendree. I don’t think the Illini will fall into that trap, though, but I do think this game will be good preparation for what should be the Illini’s first real test of the season.
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Three days later the Illini will face the Winthrop Eagles of the Big South. Winthrop went 23-9 last year and they are predicted by Lindy’s to finish first in conference play.
The Eagles are a very solid team that could beat a number of major conference programs. Make no mistake; the threat emanating from the Eagles is real.
Winthrop brings a host of excellent players led by Lindy’s projected player of the year, 5-foot-7 senior point guard Keon Johnson.
Johnson averaged 18.7 points per game and totaled 81 assists last year. Lindy’s says he is the best NBA prospect in the Big South.
Athlon Sports has versatile 6-foot-8 junior forward Xavier Cooks as player of the year. He averaged 14.7 PPG and totaled 54 blocks. There isn’t a coach in the B1G that wouldn’t love to have these guys on their team.
And the supporting cast for Winthrop includes three seniors and 6-foot-8 junior center Duby Okeke. He finished last year with 2.5 blocks per game and is looking to take a big step forward this year.
But the Illini have an ace in the hole. They welcome Leron Black back from his suspension in this game, and that will be huge.
Combined with powerful 6-foot-11, 290-pound center Mike Thorne Jr. dominating the middle, and 6-foot-10, 230-pound stretch-four forward Michael Finke, the Illini should be able to take care of business on the boards.
If the Illini win this game it will be a very good sign. If they lose, it’ll be one they’ll need to make up for with an upset down the road.
Speaking of down the road, the Illini enter a very perilous stretch after the Winthrop game. They have two neutral court games in New York as the NIT Season Tip-Off continues at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Illini will face West Virginia on November 24th and either Temple or Florida State the following day.
After that, the Illini host North Carolina State at home in the B1G/ACC Challenge, and face VCU on neutral ground in Miami.
Next: 5 Games Determine If Illini Are Contenders
I will review these five teams in my next installment, as the Illini look to make an impact and crack the Top 25.