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Illinois Basketball: Lessons from Fighting Illini exhibition win over IUP

By Trevor Sinodhinos

Nov 26, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) goes up for a shot during the second half against the Chicago State Cougars at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) goes up for a shot during the second half against the Chicago State Cougars at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Illinois Basketball (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Illinois Basketball (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

With the ‘secret scrimmage’ season winding down, we look ahead to the regular season that starts on Nov. 9, 2021.  The excitement, however, has already begun as teams are currently in the midst of getting an opportunity to experiment and iron out wrinkles during some exhibition games. The American Football DataBase defines ‘exhibition game’ in the following terms;

"“An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition.”"

Keeping this in mind, it is not so much the who, what, where, when, or why things happen but the how. On Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, the Illinois Fighting Illini defeated the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks by a score of 94-79. A score which means nothing versus a Division II team as the Fighting Illini have more important opponents to prepare for, but the ‘how’ they won can shed some light, as head coach Brad Underwood does have to practice the systems he plans on using the rest of the season.

The Fighting Illini won by 15 points, which was aided by their 17-12 advantage in second-chance points, a stat that would be expected with 6’8 / 220 Ethan Porterfield and 6’8 /215 Tommy Demogerontas having the responsibility of keeping Kofi Cockburn off the boards. The size difference would also be a perfectly good explanation for the Illini’s advantage in points in the paint, if not for the fact that Illinois only outscored them 40-36 in that category. This is not promising for future Big Ten matchups versus Trevion Williams and Hunter Dickinson.

To top it off the Crimson Hawks actually doubled up the Fighting Illini in fast-break points with an 8-4 advantage. A clear indication that Brad Underwood is not planning on having the second-fastest Pace of Play in the Big Ten this season.

With Curbelo playing 33 minutes, Cockburn playing 28 minutes, and just seven players getting double digits on the court, Coach Underwood was not wasting an opportunity to play against a motivated opponent in order to learn ‘how’ things going early in the season.

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