LIVE BLOG: Exhibition - FINAL - Illinois 83, Lewis 50
NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini exhibition game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button.
You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. That's right...IT'S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Maven/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time.
--------------------
Exhibition: Lewis University at Illinois
Date/Time/Place: Friday, Nov. 1, 2019: 8 p.m. CST, State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.
Capacity: 16,618
Records: Lewis 0-0; 25-6 in 2018-19. Illinois 0-0, 12-21 in 2018.
Line: No line
Series notes: N/A
TV: BTN-Plus (subscription)
Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Trent Meachem (analyst) and Steve Kelly (Pre/HT/Post)» The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio and at FightingIllini.com.
------------
NOTE: Illinois will only have 10 scholarship players for this exhibition game tonight. Tevian Jones is suspended for an academic violation and transfers Austin Hutcherson and Jacob Grandison will not be available tonight.
------------
Illinois' starting five: Ayo Dosunmu, Trent Frazier, Andres Feliz, Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Kofi Cockburn.
An interesting aspect to tonight that Illini will have both Alan Griffin and Da'Monte Williams on the bench for this exhibition opener.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 15:58 left in 1st - Lewis 5, Illinois 2 - Cockburn already nailing a mid-range jumper and showing his effectiveness as a rim protector and on the glass. Dosunmu seems off on his jumper tonight. Frazier getting the Illini out in transition during his early minutes.
ILLINI TIMEOUT - 13:25 left in 1st - Lewis 8, Illinois 2 - Illinois head coach Brad Underwood takes Andres Feliz out after he throws the ball out of bounds and calmly says to him "Don't do that again."
Ayo does it the very next possession. Not so calm Underwood. Illini coach yelling "No! What are we doing?!" And...#Illini call a timeout.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 11:45 left in 1st - Lewis 14, Illinois 4 - We got a very unhappy Illini head coach. This is likely because Lewis is currently 4 of 5 from 3-point range and the Illini already have eight turnovers.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 7:45 left in 1st - Lewis 25, Illinois 17 - Lewis is shooting 10 of 19 from the field and 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Illinois' guards hadn't made a field goal until Trent Frazier hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Already lots of defensive breakdowns that Underwood can "coach up" in the film review.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:08 left in 1st - Lewis 27, Illinois 20 - A very forgettable first half for Ayo Dosunmu. He's 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-3 from 3-point range. The sophomore guard also hasn't exactly been active on the defensive end either. Kofi Cockburn has been solid in his 13 minutes so far. Lewis, which is shooting 50 percent, has still received way too many layups in this first half.
LEWIS TIMEOUT - 1:23 left in 1st - Lewis 29, Illinois 28 - Illinois heating up from 3-point range and it's not a coincidence they're getting stops on the defensive end. Cockburn with nine points and five rebounds so far.
HALFTIME - Illinois 32, Lewis 29 - Illini end the half on a 14-2 run as they hold Lewis scoreless for the final 2:43. Kofi Cockburn has nine points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes. Andres Feliz with a quick eight points at the end of the half.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 15:27 left - Illinois 43, Lewis 34 - Illini open the second half on a 11-2 run and already have four players in double figures. Giorgi with 10 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes. Illini with 13 turnovers and that's a statistic that will make for an unhappy Underwood.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 11:33 left - Illinois 50, Lewis 34 - Illini are on a 18-3 run over the last seven minutes and 40 seconds. Cockburn already with a double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) and after starting out 5 of 6 from 3-point range, Lewis has made just 1 of its last 6.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 7:58 left - Illinois 58, Lewis 40 - Da'Monte Williams made a 3-point shot. The Peoria native is 1 of 2 from the field and 0 of 3 from FT. I feel like he really needed that one.
LEWIS TIMEOUT - 5:45 left - Illinois 69, Lewis 40 - Illini on a 37-11 scoring run in this second half. We've got a Giorgi dunk and Belgium native Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk has five points and two rebounds in two minutes.
MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:55 left - Illinois 75, Lewis 42 - It's clear Bosmans-Verdonk doesn't understand everything he's being asked to do on both ends of the floor. What does he understand? When I'm open, shoot it. The Belgium native is 2 for 2 from long range tonight.