Northeastern Recap

The Illini were shaky throughout the opening game, but were able to put away Northeastern after building a large lead early in the second half. All of the Illini played except Brian Carlwell and Rich Semrau. Box Score

The Illini are picking up where they left off last year, with Shaun Pruitt struggling with completing his layups (contributing to many offensive boards), and very little scoring from Chet Frazier. Brian Randle seems to be healthy again, but still gets into foul trouble. Foul shooting remains poor.

On the offensive end, Rodney Alexander can contribute this year, and seems like he will be a starter. Contributing off the bench were Steve Holdren and Bill Cole. Weber will need to play these offensively-minded players to avoid long stretches of low scoring by the Illini.

After much speculation about redshirting some players, the only player who were held out were Carlwell and Semrau, who will have to work their way into the lineup. These big frontline players might have a better chance to contribute during the Big 10 season, when the play is more physical, and foul trouble is more likely.

Northeastern Game at Halftime

The game is actually available on TalkRadio1190.

First half observations:

-The team continues to be offensively challenged, like last year's team. This year there is some hope for scoring punch, with Alexander starting, Holdren off the bench and Cole off the bench.
-Pruitt mainly shoots from inside, but continues to miss lots of shots, and was only 2 of 10 in the first half, OUCH!
-Randle is healthy, but got in foul trouble early, so he was benched with two fouls.
-Cole, Tisdale and Davis all played, so none of them can be red-shirted.
-Players held out of the first half are Jordan, Carlwell and Semrau.