Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Nebraska

5. I love the Illini rotations right now

Illinois had two players in the starting lineup who gave the program a combined four points against Nebraska. That doesn’t seem good, but I will tell you right now, I love the rotations Brad Underwood has put together.

Rotations aren’t about scoring the basketball all of the time. I think they are more about chemistry and gelling together. Illinois has a lot of chemistry right now, and I wasn’t sure if that would happen this season.

We are now four games into having Sencire Harris and Dain Dainja in the starting lineup, and the Illini are 3-1 in that stretch. The only loss came on the road to a solid Northwestern bunch that could be seeing the top 25 shortly. It wasn’t a terrible loss by any means.

In that stretch of four games, Illinois has improved as a team. We are playing more as a team, and we have become much more efficient. As mentioned in a previous slide, the Illini have had more assists than turnovers in three out of the last four contests.

That is just the starting lineup I am mentioning as well. Illinois’ second rotation is phenomenal. I know some people want Jayden Epps to start, but he has been an amazing sparkplug off the bench. For the season, he is averaging 9.8 points per game, but in the last four contests, he has averaged 11.8 points per game.

RJ Melendez and Ty Rodgers are also becoming crucial players in the second rotation. I can honestly say that Underwood has the Illini playing well, and we can legit go eight deep in the lineup. That is a luxury that most teams don’t have this season. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.