Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Eastern Illinois

5. Overall, a lackluster performance for Illinois

I loved watching Illinois basketball suit up and take down Eastern Illinois. It was exciting to see the team on the court once again. This team is back, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.

But, overall, this performance by the Illini was pretty lackluster. We came out of the gates sluggish and cold. There was zero energy. You would have thought Illinois had a four-game road trip and they were on a back-to-back. That’s not the case. This was the first game of the season and we looked like that.

I thought I was going to see a much-improved Coleman Hawkins on Monday night. I would imagine he worked on his game a lot this offseason after getting some valuable information from NBA scouts. Hawkins looked like the same player as 2022-23. He opened the game with a bricked three-point shot too. I hope his confidence remains high because we are going to need him this season.

Illinois’ defense did wake up about 10 minutes into the game, but our offense looked putrid at times. We were able to stop Eastern Illinois, but the score would stay the same because we couldn’t convert on the offensive end. There was a span of six minutes and 26 seconds in the second half where Illinois scored a total of three points. We only gave up two points during that stretch, but only scoring three points is brutal.

Free throw shooting was horrendous at 52.2%. Illinois was 4-of-17, 23.5%, from three-point range at halftime and only had a 12-point lead against the Panthers. The offense also looked clunky and we weren’t sure where the ball was going at times.

There was a lot of good in this game too. I’ve mentioned Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn going off. Amani Hansberry has a bright future. Luke Goode was hot from three-point range going 3-of-5 in 19 minutes. But to ignore the fact Illinois just threw up a lackluster performance would be an injustice to the fanbase. I love wins and we had bright spots, but this wasn’t one of the better performances from the Illini.