Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Minnesota

In a Rocky Balboa-esque fashion, the Illinois basketball team took hits early but finished strong against Minnesota.

It was a pretty tight first half for the Illini, as the Golden Gophers seemed to be hitting every shot from the field. But jump-shooting teams in this day and age tend to cool off, and that is what happened in the second half.

Up three points at halftime, Illinois would come out of the break and steamroll Minnesota. A three-point lead turned into an 11-point advantage in less than five minutes. The Illini wouldn’t let up the rest of the game, as the Orange and Blue would cruise to a 78-60 victory.

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

1. Brandon Lieb came through in a big way

These are words I thought I would never type. Illinois center Brandon Lieb came through for the program in a big way on Monday night.

Throughout Lieb’s time with the program, he has been a deep bench reserve. When I say deep, I mean he has only played a total of 36 minutes in the first two years with the program. I honestly didn’t think he would ever see meaningful minutes in my lifetime.

But, on Monday night, Illinois needed Lieb. The refs were blowing their whistles early on in the game, and this enabled the Illini to get into foul trouble. Coleman Hawkins and Dain Dainja each had to sit some due to early fouls, and this made Brad Underwood signal to the seven-foot big man to enter the game.

I honestly didn’t see too many flaws in Lieb’s game. The biggest one being agility. There were a few times a Minnesota player would blow by the big man, but that happens when you are that big and haven’t experienced much time against real DI starters.

Lieb’s touch was impressive, though. He was good at picking and rolling. I was impressed with his ability to be plugged into the situation and be okay. That is a testament to him and the coaching staff.

When the final horn blew, Lieb would finish the game with four points, two rebounds, one assist, and one block while going 2-of-3 from the floor. His four points, one assist, and two made buckets all tied career highs for him as well.

I am not saying let’s have Lieb play more minutes in each game, but the fact we can go that deep on our bench is nice to know. It was fun seeing him on the floor.