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Illinois Basketball: Leron Black’s 5 best games from 2016-17

By Rees Woodcock

Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) shoots the ball as Michigan Wolverines forward D.J. Wilson (5) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) shoots the ball as Michigan Wolverines forward D.J. Wilson (5) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Illinois basketball
Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) shoots the ball as Michigan Wolverines forward D.J. Wilson (5) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

The Illinois basketball team struggled at times last season for multiple reasons.

One of the reasons they struggled wasn’t because of Leron Black, though. For most of the season, he was one of the best players, if not the best player, on the team. Illinois had a lot of success when Black was getting the ball and scoring.

In fact, the Illini were actually 10-3 when Black would score at least 10 points per game. Those weren’t just fluff teams either. He had solid performances against teams like Michigan State, Michigan and North Carolina State. He showed up in some of the biggest spots for the Illini last season.

This upcoming season is going to be big for Black as well. He is a veteran on this team now and the leader in what will hopefully be an NCAA tournament year. He will need to show that he can stay on the court and stay out of foul trouble. If he can do that, then the Illini have a real chance at being good this year.

Some of the performances by Black last season give me hope for this upcoming campaign. He can put up great numbers and there were a few games he really shined as well.

Here were Black’s five best games from 2016-17.

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