Illinois Basketball: Three takeaways from win over SIUE

Illinois basketball had their second game of the season against SIU Edwardsville on Friday night. They took care of business defeating them 90-58 on the back of five players scoring in double-digits. This Illini team got to the free throw line 28 times giving SIUE really no chance of the upset. Let’s dive into some of the biggest takeaways from the win for the Illini.

Kasparas Jakucionis is a walking triple-double

https://twitter.com/ArmchairIllini/status/1855083890542592055

Kasparas Jakucionis is quickly making a name for himself as one of the most dynamic and versatile players in college basketball. After just two games, it is clear that he is the heartbeat of the Illinois offense, and his all-around game is going to be a nightmare for opposing defenses all season.

What stands out about Jakucionis is his basketball IQ and unselfishness. His stat line from the win over SIUE — 12 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds — is just a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing on a nightly basis. What makes him even more remarkable is that he only took three shots from the field, yet still had a large impact on the game. His ability to control the tempo, make his teammates better, and impact the game in so many ways is rare.

His 10 free throw attempts show his ability to draw contact and create offense for himself without needing to rely on traditional scoring methods. Plus, Jakucionis’ transition game is something else. His speed, vision, and ability to push the ball up the floor in the blink of an eye are unmatched at the college level, and it adds a level of unpredictability to Illinois’ attack.

This Illinois Basketball roster is deep

Brad Underwood and the Illinois staff deserve a ton of credit for the freshman class they put together this year. Kasparas Jakucionis, Will Riley, Tomislav Ivisic, and Morez Johnson Jr. are all impact players from day one, and they each have high ceilings as well.

— Zach “🅂🄲🄷🅄🅉” Schumaker (@_SchuZ_) November 9, 2024

It has been a long time since we have seen an Illini basketball roster this deep. They had nine guys play at least 15 minutes and they all impacted the game in different ways. They have three very solid big men they can rely on in\: Tomislav Ivisic, Carey Booth, and Morez Johnson. The best part of those three bigs is they all bring different aspects to their games. Ivisic can do a little bit of everything, scoring, passing, and rebounding. While you also have Morez Johnson who will do all the dirty work, and bring it on the defensive end and glass.

As for the perimeter players on this roster, the Illini are even deeper there. After 31 points in the debut of Will Riley, he played 24 minutes off the bench and scored 14 points. Then after quiet debuts from Ben Humrichous and Tre White, they showed what they could do in this one. Those two newcomers combined to go 8-13 from behind the arc for 28 points total. Then you have guys like Kylan Boswell and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn who can both bring it defensively each night. The Illini may be the deepest team in the Big Ten.

Illinois Basketball offense

#Illinois: Brad Underwood says roster was built to take a ton of threes. They’re averaging 40 per game through two contests. pic.twitter.com/7atQuKRSFX

— The Daily Illini Sports (@DI_Sports) November 9, 2024

Illinois had one of the best offenses in all of college basketball last season. This year, they have tweaked it handing the keys over to Kasparas Jakucionis. While doing that they have been shooting a boatload of three-point attempts. On Friday night, the Illini shot 38 attempts from behind the arc while knocking down 15 of them which is a 39% clip. In the first game of the year, they shot 42 attempts from behind the arc and knocked down 38% of them. The volume of three-pointers in this offense is here to stay, it will just be interesting how often they can shoot near 40% this season. With the amount of shooting on this roster, they should stay up near the top of the country this season.

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