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

Friday night was a struggle as UT Rio Grande Valley brought the fight to the Illinois basketball program.

As a team, the Illini struggled to stop the Vaqueros as they would put up 85 points against a usually stellar Illinois defense. But, thankfully, a strong second half would put any worries to rest, as the Illini would finish off UT Rio Grande Valley, 94-85.

Here are the grades from the Illinois basketball win over UT Rio Grande Valley.

Offensive Grade: A+

I can’t sit here and give Illinois’ offensive performance anything less than an A+ on Friday night. They did everything right, and I have zero complaints.

The game against UT Rio Grande Valley was one where the team had two focused offensive threats. Kofi Cockburn led the way with 38 points on 15-of-19 shooting from the field. The Vaqueros had zero answers for him the entire night.

Alfonso Plummer was the outside threat for the Illini. He finished with 30 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range. His ability to get to the free throw line and make all eight attempts helped the Orange and Blue as well.

Illinois also received a nice little spark off the bench from true freshmen. RJ Melendez scored two points from his only shot, and Luke Goode dropped five points on 2-of-6 shooting. We needed these two in the victory.

As a team, Illinois shot 62.3% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range. They were also nearly flawless at the charity stripe, going 20-of-24, which is 83.3%.

All of the shooting metrics were great, and Illinois was able to put up 94 points. They earned an A+.

Defensive Grade: D-

I was honestly wanting to give Illinois an F for their defense, but I can’t because of how much talent the Orange and Blue were missing.

Trent Frazier didn’t suit up in this game, and he is one of the best defenders Illinois has on the team. Of course, the Illini defense is going to give up more points without their best defender.

I was still disappointed with how the healthy players performed. Illinois gave up 85 points against UT Rio Grande Valley. That is a little concerning.

The Vaqueros shot 47.5% from the field, which is what kept them in the game. It seemed like whenever they needed a shot to go in the hoop, they would convert.

Illinois was slow on rotating and looked lost on which man they had in transition. This is the result of having so many players out of the lineup. The players on the court haven’t had time to gel together just yet. Clearly, by the second half, Illinois was playing much better and communicating well.

I would say a D- is right where this program was defensively against UT Rio Grande Valley.

Overall Grade: C-

Illinois’ offense was on-point against the Vaqueros, but we struggled mightily to stop them defensively. The game has me a little concerned about what we have moving forward, but I think everything is cured by getting healthy.

There is no reason to panic just yet. Illinois is now 4-2 on the season, and I don’t think we have been fully healthy for one game. Just imagine what this team is going to look like by mid-season. I think we will be just fine.