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Illinois Basketball: Takeaways from this weekend’s action

By Blaine Lewallen

KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 09: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Oklahoma State Cowboys reacts from the bench during the quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament against the Iowa State Cyclones at the Sprint Center on March 9, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 09: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Oklahoma State Cowboys reacts from the bench during the quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament against the Iowa State Cyclones at the Sprint Center on March 9, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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The Illinois basketball team had another solid weekend, going 2-0 and improving their overall season record to 4-0 for the second straight year.

Illinois opened up the weekend with an 82-73 victory over in-state foe DePaul.  This was part of the Gavitt Tip-Off Games, where the Big Ten and Big East conferences faced off.  Illinois needed a win over the Blue Demons to tie the series at 4-4 between the conferences.

This was a really cool game to see, as it is always exciting to watch in-state rivals face off.  For the Illinois-DePaul match-up, these teams hadn’t played each other in around sixty years.  You could definitely tell that DePaul was playing with a chip on their shoulder.  Hopefully, games like this can continue to happen in the future, as DePaul is a much-improved team and will continue getting better in future seasons.

The Illini concluded the weekend with a 91-74 win over the Marshall Thundering Herd.  This was a game that the Illini were expected to handily win, which they did despite their relatively slow start.  Both teams like to play fast-paced, but the Illini really exposed the weak ball security of the Thundering Herd, forcing 19 turnovers and taking control of the game in the second half.  This was compared to only 6 turnovers committed by Brad Underwood’s squad, which I find very impressive.

There are some key takeaways that I would like to mention from the weekend.  To start, the Illini defense is continuing to improve and looks really good right now.  As previously mentioned, the Illini forced 19 Marshall turnovers Sunday.  On Friday against a better DePaul team, they forced 17 turnovers.  I thought the defensive pressure and energy in both games was key and is a very good sign.

Another point I would like to make is the play of Mark Smith and Kipper Nichols.  Both of these guys had career highs during the weekend. Smith had 21 points and Nichols had 16 points on Friday.  Nichols followed this with 17 points and 11 rebounds Sunday against Marshall, which are both career highs.

These two have very bright futures in Illini uniforms and maybe even beyond.  Smith is so tough to stop.  He has the size to finish inside and is very poised for a freshman.  Nichols is also a very big body and it is really tough to defend him because of how athletic he is.  The performances of these two this weekend is a good sign for Illini fans.

Next: 3 big things after the win against Marshall

Overall, I think this was another successful weekend.  I do think there are still some things to work on, but the team is definitely moving in the right direction.

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