Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Minnesota

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 16: Aaron Jordan #23 of the Illinois Fighting Illini dribbles the ball against Jordan Murphy #3 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers at State Farm Center on January 16, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team is finally on the board when it comes to Big Ten games.

Illinois welcomed in Minnesota on Wednesday night for what ended up being a short outing for the Golden Gophers. There was one time Minnesota had the lead early on in the game. Amir Coffey made a three-point shot to take the lead 5-3.

After that three-pointer by Minnesota, the Illini kicked their game into overdrive. Trent Frazier came back with a three-pointer of his own to take the lead back. With 10:49 to go in the first half, the Illini hit their first 10-point lead of the game 23-13.

Minnesota tried to fight back but the Illini were too much. Illinois continued to score while the Golden Gophers weren’t making shots. With 49-seconds left in the first half, the Illini actually went up 21 points. The halftime score ended up being 51-28 in favor of the Orange and Blue.

The second half wasn’t much better. Minnesota did get the deficit back to 17 points, but that is as close as the score would get. Illinois went on another run and with 13:18 left in the game, the deficit for Minnesota hit 31 points. The Illini were up 36 points at one time. The final horn blew and the score showed 95-68 in favor of Illinois.

Here are five observations from the Illini win over Minnesota.

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