5 big observations from the Illinois basketball win over Oakland

3. Defense looked tough despite offensive struggles

It was weird seeing Illinois struggle so much against Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies lost a ton of talent, so I thought this game was going to be a blowout.

That didn’t happen, though. Illinois came in and looked putrid offensively. We couldn’t hit the shots we were hitting in the first two games. For the game, the Illini shot 28% from three-point range and had 18 turnovers to just 11 assists.

Even though the offense was not clicking for the first time this season, Illinois’ defense showed up in a big way. I was impressed with how the Illini locked down on defense, especially with so many new pieces and young players on the team.

Oakland was launching three-point attempts all game, but Illinois was suffocating when they would come off a screen. The Golden Grizzlies were 4-of-25, 16%, from three-point range. Illinois’ length really hurt Oakland in this department as well.

I love how Illinois didn’t let Oakland get into their offense quickly too. Kylan Boswell was pressuring their point guard all night long and impressed me greatly with his defensive prowess. I did not know he was good at defense when he transferred in from Arizona.

Illinois’ quickness also forced Oakland into 18 turnovers in the game. That was huge in helping make up for the 18 turnovers by the Illini. We didn’t play well offensively, but thankfully, Illinois has a tough defense that can change games completely.