Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from Illini exhibition game

LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 15: Illinois guard Trent Frazier (1) dribbles the ball down court against Nebraska during the second half of a college basketball game Monday, January 15th at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska defeated Illinois 64 to 63. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Trent Frazier /

1. Trent Frazier continued his greatness

The Illinois basketball team had a bad 2017-2018 campaign, but one of the bright spots was true freshman, Trent Frazier. He lit the world on fire with his electric play and his ability to score the basketball multiple ways.

Frazier finished his first year of college basketball averaging 12.5 points, 3.1 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. It would be hard to top that in year two, though. But his start to this season, while it was an exhibition game, was a pick up where he left off.

From the start of the game against Illinois Wesleyan, Frazier was on fire. He hit a three-pointer right off the bat and didn’t slow down. He finished the night with 19 points and five assists. He scored those 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from deep. This kid is the real deal and continues to show it.

Listen, I realize this is just an exhibition against a non-DI team in the state of Illinois, but it is nice to see Frazier coming out firing. This is his team and he is going to will it to the NCAA tournament this season. Watch for him to be, at least, on one of the three All-Big Ten teams this year.

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