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Illinois Basketball: Illini overcome rough game to beat Nicholls State

By Cory Nicholson

CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 13: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11), guard Trent Frazier (1), and forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) celebrate with guard Andres Feliz (10) during a Big Ten Tournament game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini on March 13, 2019, at the United Center in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 13: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11), guard Trent Frazier (1), and forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) celebrate with guard Andres Feliz (10) during a Big Ten Tournament game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini on March 13, 2019, at the United Center in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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At least the game is over. That was not the ideal start for an Illinois basketball team that has NCAA tournament hopes in their future.

An overtime win against Nicholls State at home was a very rough start for the Illini, to say the least. The good thing? It’s only the first game of the season. However, right now, this does not look like a team that could go to Tucson on Sunday night and pull off a road win. This team has a lot of work to do but has the talent to do it.

The Good

Kofi Cockburn is still a stud. The freshmen played very well inside, recording a double-double for the first time in his young career. Cockburn finished the game with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ayo Donsunmu also had a well-played game finishing with 21 points, to go along with seven rebounds.

The Star

Andres Feliz. Feliz showed why he was the guy who received the fifth starting spot. This was a great game played by the senior guard. Feliz dominated on both sides of the floor and finished with 23 points, as well as 11 rebounds. Yes, you read that correctly. The small guard had eleven boards.

The Bad

A lot. The lack of depth on the bench. Aside from Alan Griffin, the Illini bench was dreadful tonight. They needed the minutes from key reserves but were shorted in this department. The most disappointing off the bench was Kipper Nichols and Da’Monte Williams. These are two guys who Illinois needs to step up.

Illinois struggled massively at scoring sometimes and lacked the three-point shot. The Illini only shot 26-percent from deep, compared to Nicholls St. shooting 40-percent from behind the arc.

Free throws will be another thing that needs work, as Illinois was only able to make 65.5-percent of their 29 attempts.

One thing that Illinois focused on was rebounding. Led by Cockburn and Feliz, they were able to outrebound the Colonels by 30.

One last thing that needs work is the turnovers. Illinois had 23 turnovers and only produced 16 turnovers.

dark. Next. Illini 2019-2020 game-by-game predictions

The Best News of All

This is only game one. Yes, an overtime win against a sub-par team is not the ideal start, but there is a lot more season left! Settle in Illini Nation and get ready to head to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon on Friday night!

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