Tip Off: Thursday March 21st, 2024 – 2:10 PM CT – truTV
Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha – Omaha, NE
The Fighting Illini come off a Big Ten Tournament Championship over Wisconsin on Sunday. They’ll have the least amount of rest of any team from Conference Tournament to the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Oddly enough, they’ll face the team that’s had the longest break from the end of their Conference Tournament in Morehead State. The Eagles finished off their conference Tournament on March 9th with a 69-55 win over Little Rock. An unusual dynamic of rest vs rust in this one.
A glaring difference between these two is the style of play and more specifically the pace. The Illini like to play fast (56th in adjusted tempo) while the Eagles want to play slow (335th in adjusted tempo and 356th in average possession length). Morehead State will need to keep it close and slow this one down. If Illinois can go on a run and build a double-digit lead, it will be very difficult for Morehead State to speed up enough to make a comeback.
Morehead State Personnel
Morehead State is led by Ohio Valley player of the year Riley Minix. Minix, a grad transfer and former NAIA All-American, scored over 2,000 points before transferring to Morehead State. Listed as a 6’7 guard but mainly plays the 4 for the Eagles. Minix is averaging 20.8 points per game and shooting 34% from deep this year. He also leads the Eagles with 9.8 rebounds per game. He is absolutely rolling lately, with 20+ points in 12 of his last 13 games. The Eagles will go as he goes, he played all 40 minutes in the OVC Championship Game.
Jordan Lathon, another graduate student, adds experience and serves as the Eagles’ second leading scorer at 15.4 points per game. Lathon also made the All Ohio Valley First Team. At 6’5 with long arms is also one Morehead State’s better defenders. Can create shots for himself.
Drew Thelwell is the point guard and third scoring. He’s had some big games, including 21 points in the OVC Championship Game and 17 points in the semifinals. He leads the Eagles with 6.3 assists per game.
Kalil Thomas and Dieonte Miles round out the starting lineup. Thomas is a knockdown shooter. He hit 7 of 10 threes in the OVC semifinals and is shooting 43.5% from 3 on the season. They’ll run flairs for him and look to get him open threes off ball screens too. Miles is a 7-footer and basically who will only take shots around the rim. He leads the team with 1.2 blocks per game.
6’7 Freshman Eddie Ricks is the 6th man and really the only bench guy that will get significant minutes. 2nd on the team in blocks per game, will shoot the three, but is shooting just 26% from deep. Has shown good defensive ability.
6’9 grad transfer Zach Iyeyemi will get some spot minutes as a backup big. Didn’t attempt a shot in the OVC semifinals or Championship.
The Eagles will go small about 25% of the game where they’ll use Minix as the center. They used that lineup (Thelwell-Thomas-Lathon-Ricks-Minix) more often in the OVC Tournament.
Morehead State Player Stats
The Morehead State offense is designed to attempt a ton of 3’s. They rank 25th in the country in the percentage of their field goals that are from the 3 (45.1%). It will be essential for the Illini to get to shooters and stay focused on the defensive end.
Keys for the Illini
Stay connected to Kalil Thomas – no easy 3’s for this guy, he’s knockdown from 3.
Take advantage of isos – Morehead State tries to force isolation which actually plays into Illinois’ hand. Terrence Shannon Jr and Marcus Domask will need to continue to be aggressive.
Push it when you can. Morehead wants to slow it down; they can’t stop Shannon. Illinois doesn’t force many turnovers but with Morehead State’s high 3-point volume there may be opportunities to run of long misses.
Wrap Up
Illinois should be able to take care of business in this one as long as they stay connected with Kalil Thomas on defense and let Shannon and Domask go at it on offense. Morehead State does not have the ability Illinois does and they don’t have the depth. If Shannon gets to the line as he has been the Eagles could be in major trouble.