Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Arkansas State

Game two is in the books, and the Illinois basketball team is now 2-0 on the season.

Some people were saying Arkansas State had a solid team, but the Illini put any worries to bed early with a 48-26 halftime lead.

That lead would eventually expand throughout the second half. In almost a mirror image of the first half, the Illini would beat the Red Wolves by a score of 44-27 in the second 20 minutes of the game. This great effort by the Orange and Blue would lead to a final score of 92-53.

Here are four observations from the Illinois basketball win over Arkansas State.

1. Illinois functions better with Belo at the point

I know this one is going to seem kind of obvious, but the Illinois basketball team functions a lot better with Andre Curbelo running the point guard role.

Both games this season have been blowout victories, but that first win over Jackson State didn’t look nearly as good. Illinois seemed a little scattered at times on offense, and the team didn’t flow very well. It almost looked like a pickup game instead of an organized team.

On Friday night, the team seemed to work so much better together. The ball was moving with a purpose and players were getting more open opportunities.

I know Curbelo has a chance to be an All-American type of player this season. He has all of the skills in the world. But something I undervalued a little bit was his ability to make his teammates so much better when he is on the floor.

Curbelo ended up playing just 19 minutes and in that time, he put up eight points, seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Those are great numbers for just 19 minutes. But the thing that impressed me most about his game was how much of a key cog he is in this machine. Without Curbelo, the machine still moves but it is clunky. With Curbelo, this is a well-oiled machine ready to win a title.