Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0) drives to the basket during the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Purdue Boilermakers, Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The Purdue Boilermakers won 76-71.
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It doesn’t count in the record book, but Illinois basketball took down the best team in the nation on Sunday night.
The No. 25 ranked Illini had an exhibition game against No. 1 Kansas in Champaign. This game was taken seriously, as both teams used their rosters as they would in the regular season.
Despite adding big man Hunter Dickinson, the Jayhawks couldn’t handle Illinois. We took the game to Kansas and looked like the better team. The Illini led at halftime and never looked back. Illinois managed to take down the No. 1 team in the nation, 82-75.
Here are five observations from the Illinois basketball win over Kansas
1. Illinois just beat the No. 1 team in the nation
There is nothing record-wise that Illinois basketball will gain from beating Kansas on Sunday night. This game doesn’t count in the win column.
Despite it not actually being a regular season game, let me tell you, this was a confidence booster for anyone who had doubts about this program entering the 2023-24 campaign. Illinois just beat the No. 1 team in the country.
This wasn’t one of those exhibition games where the teams play everyone on their bench for, essentially, an equal number of minutes. That is what happened over in Spain and in the Ottawa exhibition. No, this game against the Jayhawks was played like a regular season contest. Shoot, I would argue it was played as if it were an NCAA tournament game at points in the game.
Kansas’ rotation was what every team in the country will see this season. They had their starters play at least 27 minutes, and only one player on the bench saw more than six minutes. With the regular Kansas rotation, they were only able to shoot 25% from three-point range. Illinois also outrebounded the Jayhawks 39-32.
It doesn’t count toward the record, but this was a big win for the Illini. We just knocked off the No. 1 team in the country in what was pretty similar to a regular season matchup. That is huge.
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