Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Evansville

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EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini looks on during a game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team started the season with a win over the Evansville Purple Aces on Thursday night.

This was a game that everyone expected the Illini to win, but I wasn’t sure how this relatively new Illini team would look in the first game of the season. The Illinois players put all questions to rest as they came out of the gates firing and dominated the Purple Aces.

Evansville was beating Illinois 8-7 at the 17:03 mark in the first half, but this was the last time they would see the lead. The Illini took the lead 9-8 with a Kipper Nichols layup and the team never looked back. That one shot by Nichols sparked a 10-0 run by the Illini.

The first double-digit lead for Illinois came at the 11:46 mark when Trent Frazier hit a three-point shot to bring the score to 20-10. Evansville tried to keep up but the Illini were just too much. Illinois hit their first 20-point lead at the 8:09 mark in the first half with an Ayo Dosunmu three-point shot to bring the score to 35-14.

Illinois continued to dominate the rest of the game. They took a 53-22 lead into the halftime locker room. The Illini played well in the second half and extended the lead to 40 points at one time. The final horn blew and this Orange and Blue bunch won the game 99-60. There was a lot to take from this solid Illinois victory.

Here are 5 observations from the Illini win over Evansville.

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