No. 3 Illinois and No. 16 Texas Tech have spent the opening stretch of the season steamrolling opponents, but Tuesday night in Lubbock brings a different kind of assignment for both teams.
The Fighting Illini have been overwhelming on offense, piling up 116 points per game through two wins and winning by an average of 58.5 points. Texas Tech has been just as comfortable through its first two outings, taking its games by an average of 26 points. Now each side gets its first real examination.
Illinois has already delivered a pair of lopsided results, starting with a program-record 75-point win in a 120-45 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 2 before following with a 112-70 win over Penn on Thursday. That surge has come even with preseason All-American forward David Mirkovic unavailable after August foot surgery and an emergency appendectomy on Oct.
- The Illini also lost forward Jake Davis to a separated shoulder during the FDU game.
Underwood described the offense as something that can keep humming no matter who is on the floor.
"It's simple," Underwood said of the versatility of the Illinois offense. "You can input any player.
I could put five guys out there and we're all basically doing the same thing. And so it's not where there's sets and actions and different positions.
"We can go do the same thing. So they've had a lot of reps at it, and they've gotten good. And now, it's keep stressing them on the defensive end to grow there."
Andrej Stojakovic has been the headliner so far, averaging 22.5 points. Illinois has four players scoring at least 15 per game, with Quentin Coleman at 16.0, reserve Stefan Vaaks at 15.5 and Zavier Zens at 15.0.
Zens is expected to take on a bigger role with Davis out, and he made the most of his chance against Penn by hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 18 points in 21 minutes.
"I knew I needed to step up a little bit, but my teammates did such a good job of finding me," Zens said. "I was open, and they hit me.
Having Jake out is obviously a huge loss. He does so many good things for us.
Jake's a great player to look up to. He just does every little thing."
Illinois has also controlled the glass, outrebounding its opponents 127-54 across the two blowouts. Ethan Brown is averaging 12.5 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds.
There is recent history between the teams, too. Stojakovic scored 23 points last season in Illinois' 81-77 home win over Texas Tech, while JT Toppin answered with 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech will again be without Toppin, who remains sidelined after tearing the ACL in his right knee nearly nine months ago. Even without him, the Red Raiders have opened with authority. They beat Jackson State 76-42 on Nov. 2 and then handled Bethune-Cookman 76-58 on Thursday.
Against Bethune-Cookman, Texas Tech held the visitors to 27.3% shooting in the first half and 36.4% for the game.
"I thought our defensive effort to start the game was awesome," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "We were flying around and were competitive in the right ways.
We didn't play well over the course of 40 minutes though. I thought we had great stretches and did a good job with 14 offensive rebounds and second-chance points and our ability to turn them over was good, but we've got to play better."
Cruz Davis and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn are tied for the team scoring lead at 15 points per game, while Damarion Dennis averages 13.5 and Josiah Moseley adds 12.5 points along with a team-best 8.5 rebounds.
Texas Tech may also have transfer forward Jamichael Stillwell available Tuesday after a Lubbock judge granted a temporary restraining order that makes him eligible to play. Stillwell is among the players from the 2022-23 season who went to court seeking a fifth season under the NCAA's new five-year eligibility rule.
He spent two seasons at junior colleges, one at Milwaukee and last season at UCF, where he averaged 11.6 points and 8.2 rebounds.
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The timing matters because the Illini are already thinking ahead to expected roster turnover in the frontcourt, and Thelen fits the kind of long-term reinforcement they may need to keep stacking depth. Illinois has not offered yet, which makes this visit an important evaluation point for both sides as the staff gauges whether he belongs on the board and Thelen gets a closer look at what Champaign could offer. [Read more 🡒]