Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers
2. It was nice to see RJ Melendez snap out of it
You have to go all the way back to Sunday, February 19, 2023, to find an observation slide show that I did that included a slide wanting to reduce RJ Melendez’s minutes.
That is right. In the five observations from the Illini loss to Indiana, I included a slide titled, “It is probably time to reduce RJ Melendez’s minutes.” At the time, it is exactly how I felt, and those feelings were justified based on his performance this season.
Coming into the Minnesota game, Melendez had been playing some of the worst basketball I had seen in Illinois history. That might be a slight overstatement, but it is probably pretty close.
In his prior six games, Melendez was 4-of-25 from the field and 1-of-14 from three-point range. He was truly playing some awful basketball. But the sleeping giant finally arose.
Melendez woke up against Minnesota. Brad Underwood decided to start Melendez on Monday night, and this decision paid off. He went for 10 points, 11 rebounds, and one block while going 4-of-8 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range.
On top of the numbers that Melendez put up, I love the hustle he had out on the court. He was diving for loose balls and going strong to the glass for rebounds. This effort really helped propel Illinois to victory over the Golden Gophers.
If Illinois can get this type of Melendez for the rest of the season, then we have a chance to do something really special.