White’s breakout performance helps fuel Illini

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Dec. 11—CHAMPAIGN — Tre White skying for a tip dunk over Wisconsin’s Carter Gilmore brought the State Farm Center crowd to its feet Tuesday night.

It went beyond a highlight reel play. White getting the automatic double of offensive rebound and two points also sapped some of the momentum the Badgers had gained with a Nolan Winter three-pointer that cut Illinois’ lead to four points with just less than 3 minutes to play.

The Orange Krush started chanting White’s name during the ensuing timeout. Partly because White dunking on Gilmore’s head was a hype-worthy moment. Partly because the junior guard was piecing together the best game of his Illinois career to date.

White’s two best games before Tuesday night both came against Ohio Valley Conference opponents. He had 13 points in a blowout win against SIU Edwardsville and 16 points and eight rebounds in another rout of Little Rock.

But White had been a non-factor the last two times Illinois took the court. He played just 10 minutes against Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day, didn’t score and has many fouls as rebounds (two each). He also managed just four points and two rebounds in 15 minutes in his Big Ten debut at Northwestern.

So the State Farm Center crowd chanting his name Tuesday night wasn’t something most would have predicted. White got a second round after the game. After he’d put the finishing touches on 23 points and eight rebounds and Illinois had wrapped up an 86-80 victory against No. 20 Wisconsin.

“It’s no coincidence because he had two of the best practices he’s had all year,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “He showed up on Saturday and was extremely active in just our film breakdown. Sunday he was the best player on the court in practice. It was his attitude in practice. He didn’t hang his head about the Northwestern game. He played well in the Northwestern game, so I knew I had to do some things different. I had to unleash that.”

Underwood said he hadn’t done a good enough job coaching White. Hadn’t put him in…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/whites-breakout-performance-helps-fuel-154800212.html

Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2024-12-11 15:48:00

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