CINCINNATI – Brad Underwood wanted to use Saturday’s first exhibition to play with most of his squad, test it in a road environment and discover some flaws. The Illinois head coach accomplished all of those things, all in a 105-96 victory over Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena. Despite star forward David Mirkovic sitting out while recovering from a foot injury, Illinois’ offense played faster (80 possessions) and remained dangerous (1,313 points per possession), although more prone to turnovers (15 turnovers). Andrej Stojakovic scored a team-high 20 points, while Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks scored 19 points off the bench. and Tomislav Ivisic scored 13 points. Freshman guards Quentin Coleman (14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) and Ethan Brown (15 points, five rebounds, two assists) shined as starters, but the Illini defense struggled to contain a Cincinnati roster with 13 newcomers under first-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun. Point guard Tylen Riley led Cincinnati with 31 points and 13 assists, while Adlan Elamin (15 points) and Tyler Tejada (13 points) also scored in double figures. Illinois took a 5-0 lead in the first 46 seconds, forcing Calhoun to take a quick timeout, and took a 13-6 lead after consecutive 3-pointers from Tomislav Ivisic and another three from Stefan. Vaaks. After Cincinnati cut the deficit to 18-16, Illinois went on a 10-5 run to take a 28-21 lead. Cincinnati responded with an 8-0 run to take its first lead at 29-28. But Andrej Stojakovic then took control, scoring 10 points in the final six minutes to spark a 12-0 run and lift the Illini to a 54-49 halftime lead. Cincinnati cut the deficit to 75-73 midway through the second half. But Coleman went on a personal 10-0 run to build the Illini’s largest lead, 93-79, with 4:19 left. Ivisic and Bornw then hit 3-pointers to prevent a 10-3 Cincinnati run and close out the game. What it means: This is everything Underwood could have wanted in a game in which he played with 12 players for at least five minutes. He was able to see a lot of different lineups and a lot of different players. He saw an offense click with two freshmen guards, Brown and Coleman, playing very good basketball. However, the Illini have a lot to fix defensively, especially with communication and rebounding. Star of the game: Stojakovic was unstoppable offensively, but we’ll give the nod to Coleman for his overall impact. The freshman saw very high usage and made great decisions, for the most part, creating for his teammates for most of the game and making a big scoring splash late in the game. But his activity on the glass and against loose balls was also notable. Game Statistics Illinois averaged 1,313 points per possession, while Cincinnati averaged 1,215 points per possession. Cincinnati scored 15 points off 15 Illinois turnovers, while Illinois scored 20 points off 10 Cincinnati turnovers. Illinois outrebounded Cincinnati 39-32, but allowed 12 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points. Illinois made 14 of 33 3-pointers, while Cincinnati made 12 of 33 3-pointers. The Illini played 80 possessions, more than any game last season. Don’t Overlook: Freshman guard Ethan Brown started over top-15 transfer guard Stefan Vaaks, a reward for good practice, Underwood said, and played very well. Not only was Brown productive offensively in a higher usage role, he was positive on the glass and gave some flashes of good defense. He will play a lot this season. What’s next: Illinois hosts Baylor for an exhibition game at 7 pm CT on Friday, which will air on the B1G+ streaming service. Baylor is ranked 35th in KenPom’s preseason rankings and 45th in BartTorvik’s preseason rankings. Last season, Baylor went 17-17 (6-12 Big 12) and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Bears return just two starters from last season — point guard Isaac Williams and post Caden Powell — but added Penn State transfer guard Kayden Mingo (13.7 points) and his younger brother Dylan Mingo, as well as Liberty transfer guard Brett Decker Jr., who He averaged 16.9 points last season.
