Illinois Basketball: Illini force the third straight tie in the Gavitt Games with a win
In the final game of the Gavitt Games, Illinois basketball was able to best the DePaul Blue Demons to cause the event to end in its third straight tie.
This was the third edition of the Gavitt Games played between the Big Ten and the Big East and we are yet to decide a victor. With eight total games played in each year, the series is now tied 24-24. After the first seven games of the event this season had the Big East leading 4-3, it was up to the Illinois Fighting Illini to come away with a victory over DePaul to tie the event.
Behind double-digit efforts from Mark Smith and Kipper Nichols, Brad Underwood‘s Illini were able to take the home victory, 82-73. From start to finish, this was an extremely competitive game. Although DePaul made several runs to potentially take the lead, Illinois showed fight throughout and continued to answer run after run. The Illini stayed in control for the majority of the second half and were able to come away with the win in the end.
The story of this game, though, was the foul trouble. In total, the referees blew their whistles 59 times for fouls. Yes, you read that correctly. FIFTY-NINE FOULS. That is an average of a foul call every 41 seconds in the game. Three total players fouled out in this one with five others sitting on four fouls. Thankfully, both teams were able to connect on a fair amount of their free throw attempts. DePaul finished 21-for-27 (77.8%) while Illinois hit a few more at 27-for-36 (75.0%).
Entering this season, there were some concerns regarding the depth of Illinois, but they stepped it up in this game. The reserves were led by the previously mentioned Nichols, who had 16 points, but three other Illini bench players scored more than 5 points and played consistently solid minutes.
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood had this to say about his bench output in this game:
"”I love productivity off the bench,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. ”I try to find that. I try to create it. I don’t want just bodies coming in.”"
DePaul was led by four players in double-figures, including 19 points from Justin Roberts.
As far as this in-state battle goes, this was just the first meeting between these two teams since the 1957-58 season. For the total series, Illinois now leads 8-2. This battle showed an extremely well-fought game on both ends of the floor and plenty of talent residing between these two schools within the Prarie State.
Next: 68 reasons to be excited for college hoops
In this game, in particular, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood was able to guide his team to a home victory and a tie in the Gavitt Games for the Big Ten. It might not be a great win for the rebuilding program, but any win over a potential in-state rival is a good one. Could Illinois be a surprising team in the country this season?
Next up for Illinois: The Illini face Marshall at home in their next game on Nov. 19.
Next up for DePaul: The Blue Demons play #2 Michigan State in the PK80 Tournament on Nov. 23.