4. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn continues to show he is a starter
This slide kind of goes hand-in-hand with the previous slide. There were very few bright spots on Thursday night, and saying there were a few might be too generous.
Illinois played one of the worst games I have seen in years against Maryland, and the result was a 21-point blowout loss. The biggest bright spot I did see in the drubbing came off the bench.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is someone who holds a special place in my heart as a fan. He is one of the two holdovers from the Elite 8 squad, the other being Ty Rodgers who decided to sit this season out.
Every other Illinois player departed the program after the Elite 8 run. Gibbs-Lawhorn on the other hand, stayed and gritted it out. He wasn’t guaranteed anything, and in fact, Brad Underwood was bringing in a completely new roster. This gave Gibbs-Lawhorn the green light to transfer.
Gibbs-Lawhorn stuck it out, though. He stayed with Illinois, and now he is having games where he is our best player. On Thursday night, Gibbs-Lawhorn came off the bench and dropped 15 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal. He was 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
Big games are starting to become a trend for Gibbs-Lawhorn too. He had seen fewer than 20 minutes for much of the season, but the talented guard caught Underwood's eye, and now he is a bigger part of this team.
For the season, Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging 17.3 minutes and putting up 7.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. In just the last eight games alone, those numbers have increased. In that eight-game stretch, he is averaging 22 minutes each night and is putting up 11.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and just 1.0 turnovers per game.
Illinois isn’t getting a lot out of players, but Gibbs-Lawhorn continues to impress. I mentioned that it might be a good idea for Underwood to bench Ben Humrichous and use him as a spark plug. A good option to replace Humrichous would be Gibbs-Lawhorn.