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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
Feb 18, 2017; Iowa City, IA, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) completes a slam dunk as Iowa Hawkeyes forward Nicholas Baer (51) looks on during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois vs. Valparaiso

While the Illinois basketball team did end up missing the NCAA tournament, they still earned a berth in the NIT. This isn’t as good as the Big Dance but it still has meaning to fans and, clearly, to players as well.

The first game for the Illini was against the Valparaiso Crusaders. They were without big man Alec Peters, though, so Illinois had a much easier time with this underrated mid-major program. The score reflected Peters not being on the court as well.

Illinois dominated the game beating the Crusaders 82-57. Malcolm Hill led the way for the Illini with 25 points and Black was second on the team in points with 13 on the night. He also led the team in rebounds with 12 as well.

This big double-double for Black helped lead the Illini to such a big victory. He not only put up the points he usually puts up, but he also pulled down six offensive rebounds as well. Those are big for a team that tended to struggle at times.

Black, once again, was extremely efficient as well. He shot 6-of-9 from the field and 1-of-1 from the three-point line. His production helped this team tremendously and will be a great benefit next season.

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