Game 1 preview | Eastern Illinois at Illinois, 7 p.m., Monday
Lineups Illinois P Name Yr.
Ht.
PPG Hometown G Kylan Boswell Jr.
6-2 9.6 Champaign G Kasparas Jakucionis Fr.
6-6 19.2 Vilnius, Lithuania G Tre White Jr.
6-7 12.3 Dallas F Ben Humrichous Gr.
6-9 14.7 Tipton, Ind.
C Tomislav Ivisic Fr.
7-1 7.1 Vodice, Croatia FYI: Boswell is the 14th Champaign native to play for Illinois.
Robert McKay was the first in 1927 and was followed by Champaign High teammates Ted Beach and Rod Fletcher in the early 1950s.
The most recent was Centennial grad Michael Finke, who suited up for the Illini from 2015-18 before finishing his career at Grand Canyon.
P Name Yr.
Ht.
PPG Hometown F Will Riley Fr.
6-8 26.5 Kitchener, Ontario G Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn So.
6-1 2.4 Lafayette, Ind.
F Morez Johnson Jr.
Fr.
6-9 20.0 Chicago Note: Scoring averages from 2023-24 season (wherever it was played) Eastern Illinois P Name Yr.
Ht.
PPG Hometown G Artese Stapleton Gr.
6-3 4.1 Chicago G Nakyel Shelton Sr.
6-3 11.0 Chicago G Corey Sawyer Jr.
Sr.
6-4 8.9 Orlando F Kooper Jacoboi Gr.
6-7 10.5 Sellersburg, Ind.
F Sekou Kalle Sr.
6-10 1.8 Sellersburg, Ind.
FYI: Stapleton is on his fifth team in now six seasons of college basketball.
The former Kenwood Academy standout started his career at Lewis (two seasons) before transferring to Radford (one season) and then Lincoln, a Division II program in Missouri, before playing 10 games at Kansas City last year before suffering a season-ending injury.
P Name Yr.
Ht.
PPG Hometown G Obadiah Curtis R-Jr.
6-5 19.7 Fresno, Calif.
G Zion Fruster Sr.
6-2 18.0 Douglasville, Ga.
F Rodolfo Rufino Bolis Sr.
6-8 1.7 Esprito Santo, Brazil Note: Scoring averages from 2023-24 season (wherever it was played) except for Curtis, who redshirt last season at Arkansas State and averaged 19.7 points at Reedley College (Calif.) in 2022-23.
Details Site: State Farm Center (15,544), Champaign.
Radio: Brian Barnhart (play-by-play) and former Illini Deon Thomas (analysis) will have the call on the Illini Sports Network on WDWS 1400-AM, WDWS 93.9-FM, WHMS 97.5-FM, WPXN 104.9-FM, WDAN-1490-AM, WDNL 102.1-FM, WSOY 1340-AM and WSOY 103.3-FM.
Streaming: Big Ten Plus Series: Illinois leads 8-0.
Last meeting: Illinois won 80-52 on Nov.
6, 2023, in Champaign.
FYI: The average margin of victory in Illinois eight wins against Eastern Illinois is nearly 25 points.
The closest was a 70-67 victory for the Illini in 1998, with Cory Bradford leading the way with a game-high 19 points.
The two teams didnt play again until three years later when Frank Williams put up 20 points and Illinois won by 40.
Beat writer Scott Richeys Storylines Mondays season opener is Illinois third straight facing Eastern Illinois.
The Panthers have found up on that spot in the Illinis schedule for several reasons.
That EIU athletic director Tom Michael played for Lou Henson doesnt hurt.
Nor does the relationship between Illinois assistant coach Geoff Alexander and Panthers coach Marty Simmons.
Alexander spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Evansville working for Simmons before he left the Purple Aces to join Illinois coach Brad Underwood in Champaign.
The game is so good for them and so good for us, Underwood said.
Its close.
Im a big fan of Marty.
...
Those are the type of games you like helping your people out and helping friends out.
The other side of it, we know that were running into a team thats going to be very disciplined and extremely well coached.
A great challenge for us.
Expectations for Ben Humrichous as a shooter are fairly high this season in Champaign.
Underwood has already called the Evansville transfer one of the best shooters hes coached.
Basically a 6-foot-9 Alfonso Plummer.
Which is notable since Plummer shot 41 percent from beyond the arc in his lone season at Illinois.
The first public look at Humrichous, though, was his tough afternoon in Oxford, Miss.
The most experienced Illini hes in his fifth season of college basketball missed all four of his three-pointers in Illinois exhibition loss to No.
24 Mississippi.
Im a shooter, Humrichous said.
I believe that Gods given me the ability to do it well.
Even though you miss some shots, we move on.
Im such a process guy.
Not so much the result when it comes to shots.
Ive been in here working and continuing to put my reps in, and Im sure it will go in.
The seven days since Illinois dropped its lone exhibition game in a lopsided 91-74 loss to Ole Miss put an emphasis on shoring up the two things that sank the Illini against the Rebels.
Not nearly strong enough defense (Ole Miss put up a 49/50/86 shooting slash as a team) and too many turnovers (22 of them) was a non-starter when it came to Illinois going on the road and beating a top 25 team.
I think we were trying to find some grit and some bite on the defensive side, Underwood said.
I thought we were very passive on the ball.
I think we have the ability to have Dravyn (Gibbs-Lawhorn) and Kylan (Boswell) and Tre White and guys like that who can just really get after the basketball and were just very passive.
Weve got to be better gritty and grimy and nasty on the ball and tougher.
Then just careless turnovers.
We played too fast after makes if that makes sense.
We just committed some egregious turnovers.
They had 18 points on live-ball turnovers, which is an egregious amount.
The News-Gazettes pick Marty Simmons has built himself an old team in Charleston with just three players that have two or fewer seasons of experience.
That should serve the Panthers well ...
eventually.
The talent scale still tips heavily in Illinois favor, though, in this third straight season opener against EIU.
Simmons has a roster that has the chance to improve on last years 14-18 record and compete at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Illini have a roster that might produce a pair of first-round draft picks in seven months.
The goal for Brad Underwood and Co.
on Monday night at State Farm Center? Maybe weather some youthful mistakes on an almost entirely brand new team, notch a win and move on.
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