Charity Exhibition Takeaways: Illinois Stuns No. 1 Kansas, Tennessee Drops Michigan State

From the Boilermakers to the Jayhawks, some of college basketball’s biggest teams played this weekend, giving fans a taste of what’s to come this season.

College basketball’s regular season may get off to a rather slow start (just two men’s games between high-major opponents are set for the first day of the season), but some of the sport’s highest-profile teams faced off in charity exhibition games over the weekend to give fans a taste of what they might see this season.

The games are a major breath of fresh air: NCAA rules allow Division I teams to play “secret scrimmages” against other D-I teams that can’t be televised or attended by fans as well as publicized exhibitions against non-D-I teams. But the rules provide a carve-out for games put on to raise money for charity, and many big programs took advantage and played marquee games.

I attended the Kansas vs. Illinois game in Champaign, Ill., that raised money for Maui’s recovery from the wildfires that swept the island in August, and the atmosphere rivaled that of a regular-season game. The vibes were similar in the Purdue vs. Arkansas and Michigan State vs. Tennessee clashes that also headlined the weekend: Teams played to win, fans turned out in full force and coaches got to learn about their squads. These games aren’t worth overreacting to, but there’s plenty to learn from them with the season just a week away. Here are some notes from the best exhibition action of the weekend.

Illinois knocks off No. 1 Kansas

The Illini welcomed Bill Self back to Champaign in style, beating the Jayhawks 82–75 and looking much improved from an inconsistent 2022–23. It certainly helped that Illinois shot the ball extremely well: Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins made a combined nine threes after each shooting 32% or lower from deep a season ago. But the adjustments Brad Underwood made this offseason were on full display, and early returns were positive. Playing Hawkins almost exclusively as a center better unlocks his unique skill set, and Underwood has done a nice job surrounding a high-usage star like Shannon with role players more suited to keep the ball moving and floor spaced than they did a season ago.

Illinois seems intent on playing 6'6" sophomore Ty Rodgers at point guard, and he passed his first big test. He’ll be used in a role similar to the one UConn used Andre Jackson Jr. in a season ago: far from ball-dominant but impactful as a screener, cutter and passer while helping set up the offense to lessen the impact of his inability to space the floor. That will require Illinois to run more sets than it did a season ago, but that may be a good thing in the long run, providing structure for an offense that endured too many scoring droughts last year.

On the Kansas side, the Jayhawks did little to make you question their candidacy to win the Big 12 but didn’t show the dynamism you might expect from a national title favorite. Part of that may be tied to the absence of Australian wing Johnny Furphy, whom Self and the Jayhawks are very excited about. But KU lacks the explosive backcourt scorer to pair with low post star Hunter Dickinson, and figuring out the spacing with Dickinson playing next to a nonshooter in KJ Adams Jr. is still a bit of a work in progress. Still, the Jayhawks are too old and talented not to be really good, and if one of Furphy and fellow freshman Elmarko Jackson comes along quickly, they’ll be right there for the No. 1 spot in the polls all season long.

A win over the preseason No. 1 team will give the Illini plenty of momentum heading into the season :: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Tennessee flashes firepower vs. Michigan State

Tennessee’s Achilles’ heel in recent years has been inconsistent play on the offensive end. The Vols ranked outside the top 50 in KenPom’s offensive efficiency metric in three of the last four years, and that has doomed them in March (see the 55 points they scored last season against FAU or the 2-of-18 they shot from deep the year before against Michigan). Internally, they have been optimistic that would change this year, but the team’s performance Saturday had to exceed even the most optimistic expectations.

Despite not having its two starting guards in Zakai Zeigler (knee) and Santiago Vescovi (personal matter), Tennessee lit up the scoreboard with 89 points in a road win over a preseason top-five Michigan State team. The big star: Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht, whose elite shooting and high-level feel are clearly translating to the highest level. His 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists carried the day, looking like a game-changing weapon on the offensive end. Tennessee ditching the two-big looks it played often last year and replacing them with an elite shooter like Knecht will do wonders for Zeigler once he returns to the floor, and Zeigler’s backup, Jordan Gainey, flashed his shooting stroke with 20 points and six assists.

Now, it’s worth remembering that Tennessee lit up the score sheet in last year’s charity game against Gonzaga, a 99-point outburst that might have indicated that a corner had been turned. It’s certainly possible this performance was fool’s gold, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited if you’re a Tennessee fan.

Arkansas, Purdue go to OT in Fayetteville

This game was a perfect example of how a preseason contest like this can help coaches learn about their teams. Both schools got tested in ways that they couldn’t have simulated otherwise. Purdue got to test its backcourt, which struggled against length and athleticism last year, against an Arkansas team loaded with good guards, then navigated foul trouble for 2022–23 Naismith POY Zach Edey. Arkansas, with almost an entirely new team of transfers, got to play one of the most disciplined, experienced teams in the country.

If you were skeptical of Purdue because of its previous March failures, this performance likely didn’t sway you. The Boilermakers turned the ball over 20 times (including seven by sophomore point guard Braden Smith), shot relatively poorly again from three (8-for-27) and SIU transfer Lance Jones shot just 2-for-11 from the field after getting the start. But if you were a Purdue believer coming in, this game probably shouldn’t move you off that opinion. The Boilermakers played even with a top-15 team on the road with Edey neutralized due to foul trouble, including a six-plus-minute stretch in the second half that Purdue won by one with Edey out with four fouls. Purdue still dominated the glass and got tons of good looks from three.

On the Arkansas side, the team’s balance was impressive. Trevon Brazile looked healthy coming off an ACL tear, Houston transfer Tramon Mark stuffed the stat sheet and Louisville transfer El Ellis provided a nice scoring spark. It may take Eric Musselman a while to fully narrow down his rotation, but there’s no reason this group can’t be in the mix for a fourth straight trip to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

Other brief notes:

• In four seasons under Nate Oats, Alabama has had two elite defenses and two subpar defenses. The two teams with elite defenses won SEC championships; the two without each lost 14-plus games. Giving up 88 points to a Wake Forest team without two potential starters points more to this team looking like the latter group, though it’s early yet.
  
  
• Texas Tech hanging 89 points on Texas A&M felt noteworthy, particularly given questions about how new coach Grant McCasland would adjust his offense after playing at the slowest pace in the country at North Texas. Pop Isaacs’s 30 points are a positive indicator for his status as a potential breakout guy.
  
  
• This one wasn’t a charity game, but Rick Pitino’s St. John’s team losing to D-II Pace University was a pretty big surprise, especially given that the Red Storm had beaten Rutgers the previous week. Maybe we can just chalk this one up to poor shooting (especially with a pair of key players in Joel Soriano and Jordan Dingle out), but perhaps expectations for what magic Pitino can work with this group in Year 1 should be tempered a bit.
  
  
• As fun as it was to see these games, it is hard not to wish coaches were willing to schedule these games as season openers rather than exhibitions. Losing to Illinois would have had no meaningful impact on Kansas’s ability to have a great season, and the same goes for every loser mentioned in this article. Coaches want a couple of easy games to get their feet wet before diving into big matchups in the season’s second and third weeks, but having essentially a soft open to the schedule with most teams avoiding high-end competition in the first week doesn’t help the sport market itself during a crowded time of year on the calendar. These games are great for fans … but would be even better if they counted toward the standings.