For the vast majority of the first half, the Illinois basketball team showed its power against Chicago State.
The Illini looked great after the 15-minute mark. Chicago State looked like they might be able to hang with us for a minute, but Illinois started to turn things up and that was the game.
With so much talent and size, the Illini put Chicago State away early. This wasn’t much of a first half, as Illinois leads 60-24. There were a lot of highs for the Orange and Blue.
Here are the Illinois basketball highs and lows in the first half against Chicago State
- Low – Chicago State was hitting early
There wasn’t much of a worry, but Chicago State kept the game close in the first four minutes of the game.
The Cougars were hitting shots and had this game at 8-7 in favor of the Orange and Blue. Chicago State was 3-of-6 from the field with two three-point shots that went in. The game quickly changed after that, though.
- High – Tomislav Ivisic set the tone
Brad Underwood clearly had a game plan to start the afternoon inside the paint. Tomislav Ivisic was used quite often early on, and it really didn’t cool down. He was a big part of what the Illini were doing in the first half.
Just in the first 10 minutes alone, Ivisic was 5-of-7 from the field and 1-of-1 from three-point range for 11 points, one assist, one block, and one rebound. He was dominant.
Illinois has struggled at times with ball movement this season, but that wasn’t the case against Chicago State in the first half.
It was a team effort with distributing as well, as we had 14 assists and six different players tallying at least one assist. Illinois was able to drive and dish to get players open for shots. This helped players like Will Riley step into shots and make them.
- High – Rebounding the basketball
Ivisic gives Illinois a huge advantage in size when playing teams like Chicago State. The size advantage really showed its face when it came to rebounding the basketball.
The Illini dominated the glass against the Cougars. Illinois finished the first half with 25 rebounds compared to just 10 rebounds for Chicago State. This helped widen the margin greatly and have the Illini take full control.
