Illinois vs Eastern Illinois, Monday, November 4th, 7:00pm CT, B1G+

Old Farm Illini · 2024-10-31T10:03:02-0500

Almost exactly 7 years after EIU embarrassed us at Lantz Arena during an exhibition game in Underwood's first season. Never underestimate the cupcakes.

abchew2 · 2024-10-31T10:36:13-0500

thefalcon5 said:
EIU is 332nd in kenpom. I think we could be without our 5 best and still comfortably win.

This is just a casual tuneup game. The actual first hurdle is Oakland.

This years Oakland is definitely not last years team. They are pretty darn bad. Their scheme does not strike me as something a young team can adopt effectively early in a season.

ptgrd23 · 2024-10-31T12:17:30-0500

JMO - but I think Morez is going to force his way onto the court - stealing minutes from Ben, Tre and Ty.

....The 6-foot-9, 255-pound freshman played just 13 minutes in Illinois’ 91-74 loss to No. 24 Mississippi, but he scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and tied Tomislav Ivisic, Tre White and Kasparas Jakucionis for the team lead with six rebounds in markedly fewer minutes....

Wait for Morez Johnson worth it for Illini

Freshman big man has been a part of the program since committing in November 2021

www.news-gazette.com

I-L-L 1318 · 2024-10-31T12:31:11-0500

ptgrd23 said:
JMO - but I think Morez is going to force his way onto the court - stealing minutes from Ben, Tre and Ty.

....The 6-foot-9, 255-pound freshman played just 13 minutes in Illinois’ 91-74 loss to No. 24 Mississippi, but he scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and tied Tomislav Ivisic, Tre White and Kasparas Jakucionis for the team lead with six rebounds in markedly fewer minutes....

Wait for Morez Johnson worth it for Illini

Freshman big man has been a part of the program since committing in November 2021

www.news-gazette.com

I am guessing Brad was also using this to see more from some...I think he already has a lot of confidence in Rez and Ty and that may be why we didn't see them as much.

fuggles · 2024-10-31T13:18:48-0500

IlliniFan42 said:
I do think Peacock has value to make it somewhat compelling, especially during Olympic years.

Having all the Olympic event replays on Peacock was epic.

RollChief · 2024-10-31T15:30:09-0500

thefalcon5 said:
Comparatively, they are ranked about 150 spots higher than our first two games on kenpom.

Yeah they lost a few of their stars but a) Oakland is very well coached for a low major and b) they obviously still have some talent. Not saying they will be more of a test than Ole Miss by any means, it is a different level of competition.

Kenpom preseason rankings are mostly tied from preseason performance.

Oakland is turning over one player coming into this year who scored 4.6 PPG, so effectively no continuity from last year.

Notable recruits come from Tennessee St., UMKC, Cleveland St. and a redshirt from West Virginia.

I'd say the Oakland game should be another 40+ point win.

New Creation · 2024-10-31T15:38:57-0500

Indy Illini Fan said:
I’ve heard it’s on the way … He should be good for EIU …

hooraybeer · 2024-10-31T15:55:45-0500

RollChief said:
Kenpom preseason rankings are mostly tied from preseason performance.

Oakland is turning over one player coming into this year who scored 4.6 PPG, so effectively no continuity from last year.

Notable recruits come from Tennessee St., UMKC, Cleveland St. and a redshirt from West Virginia.

I'd say the Oakland game should be another 40+ point win.

feels more like an extremely close game throughout that we pull out by 6 in the end