Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Monmouth

Illinois basketball moved to 3-0 on Monday night in a romping of the Monmouth Hawks.

This was an ugly game from the first minute on. The Illini jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first 52 seconds of the game and never looked back. A 30-point halftime lead would end up turning into a 103-65 beatdown of the Hawks.

Here are five observations from the Illinois basketball win over Monmouth.

1. Jayden Epps continues to show out

The Illinois class of 2022 is already bearing fruit. The four freshmen are a huge part of the program and will continue being relied on for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign.

As each game goes on, I keep building excitement for the potential of Jayden Epps. He has shown in the first couple of games that he has the ability to put up big numbers on the scoreboard, but we hadn’t seen that ability consistently.

Well, on Monday night, Epps unleashed his fury on Monmouth. He came off the bench and was the electric scorer that we all knew he could be for the Orange and Blue.

In his first game against Eastern Illinois, Epps finished with two points and shot 25% from the field. Against Kansas City, he had 13 points and shot 44.4% from the field. Epps built on those two performances and burst onto the scene with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field against Monmouth.

Epps also finished the night going 5-of-9 from three-point land. He isn’t just a spot-up shooter, though. This kid can create his own shot off the dribble, and he is always moving around. He has the ability to get himself open by moving, much like Steph Curry.

The scariest part about Epps’ game is the fact he is only three games into his collegiate career. This is just the beginning. Just imagine what he is going to look like come the NCAA tournament.