The Start. Holy Cow. That was undoubtedly the best 10 minutes of basketball the Illini have played this season. They looked like a team who had complete faith in their system and knew exactly how they were going to attack their opponent. It also helped that shots were falling. Illinois forced 7 turnovers in those first ten minutes and played with great tempo.
Te’Jon Lucas deserves a lot of praise, as he was in complete control of the entire game up until the 10 minute mark. He was playing great defense, getting the ball in his hands quickly and finding open teammates running down the floor in transition.