Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Nebraska

I was thinking the Illinois basketball team was going into Friday night to tune up their game against Nebraska.

Not only did the Illini not tune up their game, but there are more questions now than there were before the game started. Illinois did manage to come out with a 77-72 win over Nebraska, though. I am thankful for this, but no one is waking up today and thinking everything is okay with this program.

Brad Underwood, I am sure, had some words to say in the locker room after the game. So, I would imagine Illinois doesn’t come out of the gates sluggish like this in their next game. Like I said earlier, though, a win is a win.

Here are four observations from the Illini win over Nebraska.

1. The bench was awful

Normally, Illinois basketball prides themselves on a tough bench. They can rely on players coming off the bench to give the team a spark and help lead them to victory.

On Friday night against Nebraska, that was not the case in the least bit. Illinois’ bench was not good, and it hurt the team in just about every facet of the game.

I would honestly say the best player coming off the bench for the Illini was Coleman Hawkins. He finished the night with 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block. He also shot a solid 2-of-5 from the field. There was one time Hawkins got the rebound and dribbled it the entire court for a layup. It was pretty fun to see him start to mature in front of our eyes.

Beyond Hawkins, I was massively disappointed with the rest of the cast. Andre Curbelo had the worst game of his young career. He finished the Nebraska game with 4 assists and 2 rebounds but failed to score and had 3 turnovers and 2 fouls.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili was also ineffective for the Illini. He failed to score and only played five minutes in the game. In the five minutes of action, Giorgi ended up with three fouls on the night. I would argue this was his worst game with the Illini as well.

Da’Monte Williams was the other bench player. He ended the night playing 31 minutes but failed to score a point. He did have 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks to go along with his two fouls, though.

So, as a collective unit, Illinois’ bench finished the Nebraska game with 5 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 8 fouls. That is not a lot of production for four players who played a combined 60 minutes. We need to be better.