Less than an hour until the tip off of the game, Illinois basketball was struck with bad news.
The Illini entered Wednesday night’s tilt against Penn State a man down. It wasn’t a role player either. Illinois was without our best player, Kasparas Jakucionis.
Penn State had to be licking their lips. This was a chance to knock off a top-15 Illinois squad without a key player. Instead of the Nittany Lions taking advantage of the situation, they laid a massive egg.
While Penn State made it seem like the game was going to be competitive with a decent start, Illinois turned on the burners about five minutes into the game. After being up 11-5, Penn State went cold. In the blink of an eye, Illinois was up 20-11 and never looked back.
This 20-11 lead turned into a 45-21 halftime lead. That 24-point halftime lead only continued to grow as Illinois’ bench was arguably better than our starters. By the time the final horn blew, Illinois was on top of Penn State, 91-52.
Here are five glorious observations from the Illinois basketball win over Penn State
1. Ben Humrichous is hitting his stride
Illinois basketball fans have been waiting and waiting for the emergence of a big-time three-point shooter. We have wanted a shooter who can knock down three-pointers from everywhere on the court. Finally, I think we have that shooter.
I believe, for the first time this season, Ben Humrichous is hitting his stride. He is starting to get comfortable in the Illinois offense, and the results are phenomenal.
On Wednesday, Humrichous was 8-of-15 from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range. He dropped 21 points while also adding nine rebounds, one block, and one steal. He was hitting shots from everywhere, and no one could defend him because of his great size and distance on his shots.
Humrichous has now had at least 18 points and hit four three-pointers in two out of the last three games. In the last three games alone, he is averaging 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47.6% from three-point range.
A comfortable Humrichous is so dangerous. Illinois already has incredible talent at every spot on the floor, but having a hot Humrichous putting up numbers is not good news for the rest of college basketball. With him hitting shots, Illinois could be unstoppable.