Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss vs Purdue

4. Our bench was better than most of our starters

This might sound like a hot take, but Illinois’ bench was better than their starters on Tuesday night.

As previously mentioned, Illinois had three starters in Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, and Jacob Grandison combined for 12 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds in 82 minutes of action. That is not a lot of production for a lot of time on the court.

The bench for the Illini performed leaps and bounds better than those three starters. Illinois’ bench received 59 minutes against Purdue and would finish with 24 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.

I was impressed by the efficiency from the bench compared to those three starters as well. The Illini bench shot 7-of-15 from the field, which comes out to 46.7%. That is a lot better than the three starters who shot 5-of-21 from the field, which is 23.8%.

Illinois was able to get more efficient scoring from the bench when it came to three-point shooting, and the bench was actually able to get to the free throw line for points. The bench for the Illini shot 2-of-4 from three-point range, which is 50%. The three starters went 2-of-14, which is 14.3%. The bench produced eight made free throws compared to zero free throws from the Illini starting trio.

I was impressed by what I saw from the Illinois bench against the Boilermakers. I have said this a few times in the past, but Brad Underwood needs to start using his talent. This is a much deeper team than just five or six players. Let’s spread the minutes out and keep the guys fresh. We clearly have the talent to do so.