We can finally say the first exhibition is this week!!
Today brings us a freshman who picked a pretty good night to start making threes, a Trent Frazier performance with a little bit of everything, and a Thanksgiving afternoon when Tomislav Ivisic faced his brother and kept making threes.
Three different games, three good reasons to spend another day remembering some guys.
Rich McBride and six threes when Illinois needed a guard
On December 13, 2003, No. 14 Illinois beat Memphis 74–64 at Assembly Hall. Rich McBride came off the bench and scored 22 points, making six of his ten three-point attempts.
Illinois was playing without Deron Williams, who had suffered a broken jaw two nights earlier against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Then the Illini fell behind 19–9 in the first half. They were 4-for-25 from the field at one point.
That is a rough way to find out how you’re going to get by without your point guard.
McBride helped get Illinois to halftime with a lead anyway. His three at the buzzer made it 28–27, and he had plenty left for the second half.
He hit three more threes between 16:32 and 12:50 remaining. Illinois went from trailing 34–32 to leading 50–37 during that stretch. James Augustine was getting to work inside, too, finishing with 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
McBride’s full line deserves a little extra attention: 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, zero turnovers. All in twenty-nine minutes.
Five assists without giving the ball away, on a night Illinois was missing Deron. The freshman did a helluva lot more than make shots.
Trent Frazier took it away six times
We’ve spent some time with Trent’s shooting. His hands give us today’s number.
On February 20, 2021, Frazier had six steals as fifth-ranked Illinois beat Minnesota 94–63 at The Barn. He added 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds.
The six steals were a career high and the most by an Illini in sixteen years. Minnesota managed two steals as a team.
And Trent managed to put the defense and the shooting into the same highlight before halftime.
He stole the ball in the final seconds and hit from half court at the buzzer, sending Illinois into the break ahead 48–33. That gave him thirteen points in the first half. A steal and three points before anybody could head to the locker room is a pretty damn good way to finish twenty minutes.
He picked right back up after the break. With 19:16 left, he stole it again, then scored four seconds later to make it 52–33. Illinois opened the half with eight straight points and kept going.
The team numbers were just as fun: eighteen Minnesota turnovers, a 31–8 advantage in fast-break points, and twenty-seven assists on thirty-seven made baskets.
Six steals from Trent helped turn a road game into an afternoon full of Illinois highlights.
Tomislav Ivisic brought six threes to Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day in 2024 gave us the first college meeting between the Ivisic twins. Tomi was with Illinois, Zvonimir was with Arkansas, and the Illini won 90–77 in Kansas City.
Tomi finished with 21 points and ten rebounds. Eighteen of those points came from six made threes on nine attempts.
He hit two during Illinois’ opening 11–0 run, had four by halftime, and opened the Illini’s second-half scoring with his fifth. Arkansas had a seven-footer to find a long way from the basket.
Illinois never trailed against the nineteenth-ranked Razorbacks. The Illini made fifteen threes, and Tomi supplied six of them while still doing plenty of the usual big-man work.
Ten rebounds, three blocks, two steals, and two assists belong next to those six threes. That’s a pretty full afternoon.
Kasparas Jakučionis scored 23, and Kylan Boswell added eighteen points and six assists. There’s another six for anybody keeping count.
Tomi is back on the Illinois roster this season. After looking back at a game like that, getting another season of him feels like a pretty good place to leave today’s countdown.
The Cincinnati exhibition is Saturday, October 17, at 4 p.m. Central.
Six days. Let’s go, Illini!!
What did I miss?