Illinois Basketball: Previewing Illini games No. 6-10
By Eric Bruce
Game #5: Austin Peay
Three days later, on Wednesday, September 6, the Illini will have a chance to put the lessons learned against Maryland to work against the Austin Peay Governors from the Ohio Valley Conference. This is the third team the Illini will play form the OVC (EIU and UT-Martin are also OVC).
Austin Peay is slated to finish eighth in conference play and have no real stand-out players. They are currently ranked by Kenpom at No. 318. The only interesting thing about this team is its new head coach, Matt Figer.
Figer was the associate head coach at South Carolina under Frank Martin. He also coached at Kansas State. As such, he coached with the Illini’s Underwood at both schools. Martin elevated Figer to associate head coach at South Carolina when he lost Underwood to Stephen F. Austin. Figer’s Austin Peay teams will probably be a little more formidable in the years to come. I expect the pleasant reunion between the two coaches will end in a substantial double-digit win by the Illini.
Next: Previewing the first five games for the Illini
The Illini enter this stretch 5-0. It is most likely Illinois will conclude it at 9-1 if all goes well. That will be huge as they enter the final five games of the year against some decent competition (including UNLV, New Mexico State, Missouri, and Dan Majerle’s Grand Canyon). I will preview those final five games in advance of the December 9 match against UNLV in Las Vegas.