Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over UT Rio Grande Valley

4. It was shocking that we won the game

At the end of the day, a win is a win. But if you took my opinion about six minutes into the game against UT Rio Grande Valley, I would have said Illinois was going to lose this game.

The Illini came out of the gates looking lethargic while UT Rio Grande Valley had so much energy. They punched and we didn’t have an immediate answer.

Things started to turn around in the second 10 minutes of the first half, though. Illinois looked like a completely different team after spotting the Vaqueros a 12-point lead. But, even after the Illini came back and took the lead by two at halftime, UT Rio Grande Valley continued to stick with the Orange and Blue.

I didn’t know how long Illinois could rely on Kofi Cockburn and Alfonso Plummer to be the go-to guys. They played a ton of minutes, so that had to be exhausting. I wasn’t sure if we had enough bodies on the court to take down an experienced team that is giving us their best shot.

With three of our starters missing, it wouldn’t have shocked me to see the Illini lose. I didn’t want it to happen, but that is a lot of talent to just take off the court and expect to have everything go well.

But I was so proud of Illinois. I was so proud of the way they fought. They could have thrown in the towel early and just let UT Rio Grande Valley pull the upset. They could have made the excuse that so many players were missing and that is why we fell in defeat.

That didn’t happen, though. This team fought. This team showed spunk. They showed me that they are all-in this season. I think this is the start of something special.