Illinois Basketball: Illini’s Non-Conference Schedule Reviewed: Part 2 of 3
By Eric Bruce
The game Friday night against Southeast Missouri State was the first of five relatively easy non-conference games for the Illinois Basketball team.
But after that, the Illini enter one of the toughest stretches of the entire season in its next four games.
In my last piece, I reviewed the first five non-conference games.
The Illini shouldn’t face significant competition until Winthrop, and even then, the Illini should prevail without too much fuss. They got off to a slow start on Friday but controlled the game from the end of the first half to the final buzzer.
But on Thanksgiving Day (November 24) the Illini face the West Virginia Mountaineers of the Big 12 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn.
West Virginia went 26-9 last year, finishing second in conference play.
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The Mountaineers lost its top two scorers, but to my mind, so what. This is still an excellent team with one of the best coaches in the game for my money in Bob Huggins.
Lindy’s puts them at No. 23 in its preseason picks. Kenpom has them at No. 20. So this is not a “down year” for WVU.
If the Illini can find a way to squeak out a win, then this might be a special season indeed.
The Mountaineers return three guards and boast some very talented forwards. They have seven players at 6-foot-8 or taller.
Betting against Huggy Bear is generally a losing proposition. He is 201-110 at WVU and 791-321 overall.
In short, Huggins is a legend and can coach the hell out of a team. This neutral court game will test the Illini’s ability to handle the full court press and to defend against a very up-tempo offense.
The next day, the Illini continue play against either Temple or Florida State. I’ll take a look at both teams.
However, I don’t have any doubt that Florida State will beat Temple. Therefore, the Illini’s fortunes against the Mountaineers will dictate how tough their next opponent will be.
The Owls play in the American Athletic Conference. They went 21-12 last year, finishing first in conference play. They are projected to finish sixth by Lindy’s this year.
Temple lost three key starters. And while they return 6-foot-8, 220-pound junior forward Obi Enechionyia, it’s hard to see where they make up for the loss.
The Seminoles, however, are a completely different story.
The Noles, an ACC team, are preseason ranked No. 32 by Lindy’s, No. 25 by Athlon, and No. 40 by Kenpom.
In the AP and Coaches polls, Florida State is the first or second “other team” getting votes.
In my view, they are clearly a top 20 team, and despite not being ranked quite as highly as the Mountaineers, this is the most challenging team the Illini will face in non-conference and conference play if they are lucky enough to face them.
Coach Leonard Hamilton has his second straight top 15 recruiting class. In fact, ScoutHoops has them at No. 2 for this year.
In short, Florida State is loaded with talent. Leading that class is 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward, Jonathan Issac. A top 10 recruit, he can do everything right now.
In the middle, the Illini’s Thorne and Maverick Morgan will face fifth-year senior Michael Ojo.
At 7-foot-1, 304-pounds, Ojo is an “oh no” for any team. Sophomore Dwayne Bacon can score in buckets, averaging almost 16 ppg last year. And junior guard, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, will run the point with skill.
That is the top of the iceberg for FSU. With five players 6-foot-9 or taller, this long and athletic team is incredibly scary.
In my opinion, Florida State is underrated, especially by Kenpom. They have a weak non-conference schedule overall, but assuming they run the table and get off to a good start in the ACC, the Seminoles will be a top 10 team by mid-January.
After a punishing couple of games in NYC, Illinois returns home on November 29 to face the very talented NC State Wolfpack in the B1G/ACC challenge.
I give the edge to Illinois in this one because of home court advantage. The Illini will need all the fight, and help, it can get to take down another underrated team from the ACC, so a big and loud home crowd should help.
The Wolfpack come in ranked No. 35 by Kenpom. Last year, they went a disappointing16-17 overall, and 5-13 in conference play, finishing 13th in the ACC.
The Wolfpack will be led by freshman point guard Dennis Smith Jr.
Smith, who chose NC State over Duke and North Carolina, is likely the best point guard, and maybe the best guard, in the country. He is projected by draftexpress.com as the No. 2 pick in its preseason mock draft.
Abrams will need every bit of toughness and veteran wiliness he can muster to keep Smith in check.
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The Wolfpack has multiple additional weapons too.
Terry Henderson is a 6-foot-5 guard who transferred from West Virginia. He averaged 11.7 ppg as a Mountaineer.
Abdul-Malik Abu is a 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior forward who averages 8.8 rpg and almost 13 ppg. He will cause some fits for Leron Black and Malcolm Hill.
Speaking of fits, FSU boasts Omer Yurtseven in the middle.
Yurtseven is a 7-foot freshman center who dumped in 91 points in the under 18 games in his home country of Turkey.
The Illini will need Thorne and Morgan to contain Yurtseven, or he might be the difference in this game.
What is interesting to me is that NC State kind of looks like the team that some Illinois fans think we currently have. This will be a good test for Illinois, and a measuring stick to see how well they’ll match up against the other middling B1G teams.
Illinois needs to take this game or the Florida State game. Losing both of those would not bode well for the Illini heading into B1G season.
On December 3, the Illini head to the Hoophall Miami Invitational to take on the VCU Rams.
This is a neutral court game, currently loaded with the ongoing drama of the recruitment by both schools of Mayan Kiir.
Actually, Kiir has NC State in his top 5 as well, though the battle seems to be most intense between Illinois and VCU if the fans are a good indicator.
While many believe Kiir is likely to sign with VCU, Illinois is still in the hunt for this talented and energetic forward.
On Twitter, Kiir stated he’ll announce his decision on November 14. Both teams will be trying to prove that he either made the right or wrong decision.
This will be the fourth preseason top 40 team the Illini will face. Kenpom ranks VCU at No. 33.
The Rams were 25-11 last season and 14-4 in A10 play. They play their typical “havoc” style full court game. Similar to WVU, this entails an up and down tempo. Points off turnovers are the lifeblood of VCU.
Like the Illini, the Rams have a veteran team. They have six seniors including JeQuan Lewis, a 6-foot-1 guard who averages 11.3 ppg, and 5.1 assists, and Mo Alie-Cox, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward.
Alie-Cox averaged 10.4 ppg and hauled in 5 rpg. These are but a couple of the weapons the Rams bring to the table. This will be another critical neutral court battle for the Illini.
These four critical games, in the heart of the non-conference schedule, will tell us everything we need to know about the Illini’s prospects to survive the B1G conference and make it to the Big Dance.
Assuming no bad losses throughout, Illinois needs to take two of these games. If they can win more than that, it will be an indication of great things to come.
Of course, the non-conference season doesn’t end there.
In the final installment of my non-conference review, I’ll evaluate the Illini’s last four games before they start B1G play.
This final stretch includes back-to-back neutral court games in Chicago and St. Louis and what should be a couple home court cake-walks.
Today, the Illini face Northern Kentucky in Champaign. Game time is 5PM central.
Next: 3 Observations From the SEMO Victory
*Note: In my last piece I stated that the Illini’s first game was against Southwest Missouri State. In fact, the Illini played the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks. It was the correct team that I reviewed, but I misnamed them. Thanks to “Buddha” for the correction.