5 huge observations from the Illinois basketball win over Arkansas
Thanksgiving Day was huge for the Illinois basketball program, as we were able to take down a talented Arkansas program.
The Illini went into this game being doubted. We just fell to a ranked Alabama program a week or so ago, and the AP Top 25 dropped us out of the rankings.
Not being ranked didn’t deter Illinois, though. The Illini came out of the gates firing, and Arkansas didn’t have an answer. We were suffocating on both ends of the court. Illinois was knocking down shots from deep, and the Razorbacks had a hard time with the length of the Illini.
A 15-point halftime lead for the Illini was cut a little in the second half, but this game wasn’t close for much of the contest. Illinois looked like the better team throughout and beat Arkansas 90-77.
Here are five huge observations from the Illinois basketball win over Arkansas
1. Glad to see Kylan Boswell starting to gel
This offseason, I thought the biggest addition to the Illinois basketball team was going to be Kylan Boswell. Well, the other players who Brad Underwood landed have been quite impressive.
Boswell, on the other hand, has taken a minute to warm up to the Illinois basketball program. He was one of the main attractions at Arizona, but there are a lot of leaders on the Illini. He had to find his place.
In the Arkansas game, it started to feel like Boswell was finally getting into a groove. He started to do the two things he is great at, driving and dishing.
Boswell finished the game with 18 points, which is a season-high. He was 6-of-10 from the floor and 1-of-4 from three-point range. The fact he wasn’t hitting at a high clip from deep isn’t a big deal. Boswell didn’t settle, so he went 5-of-6 from inside the three-point arc. He was able to still get points without being on fire from long range.
I love that Boswell was able to dish out six assists, which is second-best this season for the talented guard. In the last two games, he has had 13 assists, which is one more than the first five games he played this season combined.
The ability to drive and dish are two things that show me Boswell is starting to feel comfortable in the Illinois offense. This team is going to be a juggernaut when he gets fully ingrained in the program.