Grades are in: Illini outlast EIU behind Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn
Nov. 7—Player of the game
Illinois guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn
It would be easy to just give this honor to Terrence Shannon Jr. — probably every night. The veteran guard earned it against Eastern Illinois, putting up 16 points, five rebounds and two steals and fouling out fellow Lincoln Park grad Sincere Malone with more than 17 minutes to play with his relentless attacks on the basket. But Gibbs-Lawhorn was just as critical to Illinois' season-opening win. Probably even the most critical given how the freshman guard provided a much-needed spark in the first half and wound up with 18 points, three rebounds and three steals (plus one block and one steal for good measure) in his official Illini debut.
Backcourt
Eastern Illinois: D
Gibbs-Lawhorn and Shannon did enough offensively to salvage what would have been a disaster without them. Because that's the territory Illinois was going to enter given how inefficient Monday night's performance was with the guards feeding into the problems the from the free throw line (52 percent shooting) and from three-point range (31 percent).
Frontcourt
Illinois: D
Eastern Illinois: C+
The Illini would have been sunk without Dain Dainja, who helped reverse what was a major early rebounding advantage for EIU. What the backup big man delivered Monday night turned out to be necessary given how the rest of the Illini frontcourt played. As in not well enough to keep the Panthers' Kooper Jacobi from putting up a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Bench
Illinois: A-
Eastern Illinois: D-
Save for Shannon, the Illini's reserves outplayed the starters. It wasn't even particularly close. Coleman Hawkins scored just a single point. Quincy Guerrier pulled down just a single rebound. Gibbs-Lawhorn was a force of nature off the bench, and the Illini also got solid performances from Luke Goode and Dainja to outscore EIU's reserves 47-20.
Overall
Illinois: C+
Eastern Illinois: D
The Panthers shot their shot in the first half. Led for a good chunk of it. Looked like the more physical team. Played harder, too. There was nothing left in the tank. EIU needed a late offensive flurry to get to double-digit second-half points, and Illinois managed to post an 80-52 win in its season opener. But maybe not a 28-point victory that was all that informative about what this Illini team could be in 2023-24. That's got to be the hope in Ubben at least. Because if this is it (it's probably not), Illinois is in trouble.
