4. This will hopefully be a confidence booster for multiple Illini players
I touched on my hopes that the efficiency of the game against Chicago State would help build team confidence heading into the rest of the season. I think this game could also build the confidence of a few players.
Illinois has played some great basketball this season. We do have some players who have struggled at times, though. One of the players is Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.
After the first game of the season against Eastern Illinois, Gibbs-Lawhorn has struggled greatly. He put up 21 points in that game against the Panthers and failed to hit double-digit points every game up until the contest against Chicago State. Gibbs-Lawhorn dropped 16 points against the Cougars, and I hope that great 7-of-9 shooting day will parlay into a good streak for the talented shooter.
A confidence booster could come from the type of game Kylan Boswell had against Chicago State. He has had his moments this season, but his performance against the Cougars was one of the ages.
Boswell had the seventh triple-double in program history, as he finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Boswell had season-highs in both rebounds and assists, and this was his second-best scoring night of his first season in Champaign. I do want to note, that Boswell shot 40% from three-point range, which was the best shooting game of his season thus far.
The last player I want to touch on when it comes to confidence is Will Riley. He was struggling coming into the game, but Riley managed to put up big numbers.
Riley finished the game with 13 points and four rebounds. His 13 points were the most for the freshman since the Little Rock game back on November 25. He shot well, hitting 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range. Getting Riley going is going to make Illinois extremely dangerous.