Filtering the Illinois basketball truths and lies from the exhibition win over Cincinnati

Illinois basketball was on the court on Saturday, and we were able to start things off on the right foot.

The Illini went into Cincinnati and put up triple digits, beating the Bearcats 105-96. This was a good start to what should be a great season.

Advertisement

With any exhibition game come some truths and lies from what we see or read in the box score. Illinois has a lot of good players, but there are some things that need to be cleared up after the win over Cincinnati.

Here are the truths and lies from the Illinois basketball win over Cincinnati

Truth: Andrej Stojakovic is that guy

There are many truths and lies an exhibition game can tell, but a certain truth from the win over Cincinnati is that Andrej Stojakovic is what the numbers show.

Stojakovic isn’t a three-point shooter who lights it up from outside. He finished the game against the Bearcats with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He didn’t take a single three-point attempt. This is the box score I expect out of him this season.

Advertisement

Lie: Ethan Brown starting for Illinois

It is fun to see what Brad Underwood does with lineups in exhibition games and even early in the season.

Ethan Brown got the start on Saturday afternoon. That isn’t going to happen in the regular season, though. Brown is a true freshman who will see time but not starting time. David Mirkovic is going to get healthy, and there are other bench players who will likely get minutes and starts over Brown. He had a good performance, but I highly doubt he will get a start this season.

Truth: Quentin Coleman has a similar role to Keaton Wagler

I love what I see out of Quentin Coleman’s stat line. He is the five-star guard coming into the program, and his first action was promising. He had 14 points in 31 minutes on the court.

Advertisement

What I love the most is that he can stat-stuff. Keaton Wagler was the same. Coleman had eight assists and seven rebounds to go along with his solid scoring night. If he can…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/filtering-illinois-basketball-truths-lies-004248015.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-18 00:42:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.