3-2-1 RECAP: Illinois Survives 78-70 Overtime Win over Nicholls State in Season Opener

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Just like in the exhibition game last week, Illinois got off to a borderline terrible offensive start and looked disjointed on that end of the floor.

Unlike the exhibition game, Nicholls State isn't a Division II team and made a run to actually take the lead late in the second half to scare the crowd in believing an upset was more than possible.

The good news? Nicholls State, who was welcoming in six transfers and a freshman, looked even worse offensively in the first 30 minutes and committed more turnovers (12) than field goals in the first half.

Andres Feliz led the Illini with 23 points and Ayo Dosunmu had 21 points as Illinois benefited greatly to escape with a sloppy 78-70 victory in the 2019-20 season opener. The win was the Illini’s 23rd straight season-opening win in the State Farm Center.

Here are three major takeaways from this exhibition win for the Illini:

TOO MANY TURNOVERS

This is not the kind of execution Illinois third-year head coach Brad Underwood wanted to see in the season opener before he takes his team on the road for two straight in the next few days. After committing 18 turnovers in the exhibition game, the Illini (1-0) gave the ball away 23 times including 11 in the first half and most of them were unforced errors by forcing the ball to Kofi Cockburn or getting caught by a halfcourt trap defense.

ILLINI CLEANING UP THE GLASS

After being one of the worst rebounding teams in the Big Ten Conference last season, the Illini may have solved its problem on the glass in the form of 7-foot center Kofi Cockburn. The Jamaican native, who finished with 11 rebounds and six on the offensive end. The last time an Illini freshman had a double-double in his first game was Efrem Winters (17 points, 10 rebounds) on Nov. 26, 1982. Cockburn also had some help from his friends Tuesday night. Alan Griffin had five first-half offensive rebounds and Feliz had 11 total rebounds as the Illini sent four players to the glass on practically every miss.

FELIZ SHOWS VERSATILITY

There’s a logical argument to be made that without Feliz’s ability to settle the Illini down from the point guard position and make shots from one of the wing guard spots, Illinois would’ve been in big trouble Tuesday night.

The senior from the Domician Republic ended the evening with his second career double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds in 37 minutes. He’s more than earning that third guard starting role by being a consistent ball-handler and veteran presence in the Illini backcourt right now. His role will be critical when the Illini head on the road starting this weekend with games at Grand Canyon and No. 21 Arizona.

Add us as a preferred source on Google