No. 3 Illinois at No. 16 Texas Tech · Tuesday, November 10
7 p.m. Central · United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock
Peacock / NBC Sports Network.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 25 points in his last game. Tonight, we get to watch him again. The catch is that every basket he makes goes on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
After two seasons at Illinois and a big year at UNLV, Dra is starting for Texas Tech. The Illini are coming to his new building, and this is a pretty good time to catch up with what No. 4 has been doing.
There was a whole season between Champaign and Lubbock
It’s easy to see the familiar face, register the new jersey and skip the part in the middle. In Dra’s case, that would mean skipping a helluva year (though if you read Dunker Spot last year, you already know).
He averaged 5.9 points in his sophomore season at Illinois, appearing in 35 games and starting two. At UNLV last season, he averaged 20.7 points, led the Mountain West in scoring and earned first-team all-conference honors and the league’s Newcomer of the Year award. He made 101 threes at a 41.4 percent clip, according to his Texas Tech biography.
That’s a much bigger assignment than the one we watched him fill at Illinois. It also explains why this is more interesting than a former reserve checking in against his old school. Tech brought in a guard who had already shown he could carry a substantial scoring load for a full college season.
He’s a senior now. Jake Davis, Tomislav Ivisic and Jason Jakstys were his Illinois teammates in 2024–25. There are still familiar people on that other bench, even after a year away.
Two starts, and a reminder of how quickly he can score
Dra has started both of Tech’s opening games, averaging 28 minutes, 15 points and three assists. He scored five in the opener against Jackson State, then put up 25 in the Red Raiders’ 76–58 win over Bethune-Cookman on November 5.
That second game is the one Illinois gets to follow. Here’s a scoring clip Texas Tech posted during that night:
The post caught him at 21. He finished with 25.
Two games are two games. The useful early information is that he’s starting and playing significant minutes, not that a 25-point night establishes what he’ll do every time out. His 15-point average is tied with fellow guard Cruz Davis for the team lead.
Tech’s frontcourt situation matters, too. The current team preview says JT Toppin remains in rehabilitation from his ACL injury. That injury happened in February, not this week. This isn’t the same as dropping Dra into a fully healthy version of the team people remember from last season.
He’s talking about more than buckets
In Texas Tech’s November 1 feature on Dra and Cruz Davis, Dra talked about learning to connect with teammates quickly and build chemistry. After Illinois, UNLV and now Tech, he has had plenty of practice walking into a new locker room.
“I don’t just lead to lead, I want to lead to win,” he said.
Grant McCasland described the two guards as different personalities who share competitive habits and a team-first approach. His line about them was direct: “They’re not trying to prove themselves. They’re playing to win.”
That gives us something else to watch tonight besides whether Dra’s jumper is falling. How does he communicate? How does he keep things moving when someone else has the ball? What does his energy look like after an Illinois run?
The scoring is the obvious change from his Illinois role. The responsibility is worth watching, too. He’s one of the veterans expected to help a new group come together, and a game against a top-three team is a pretty good examination.
We don’t need to invent a revenge story to enjoy this one. A former Illini has built himself a bigger role, and now we get to see him in it against Illinois. I’m rooting for the orange, obviously. I’ll still be keeping an extra eye on Dra.
Amani Hansberry has built a much bigger job, too
Dra isn’t the only former Illini whose college career deserves another look. Start with Amani Hansberry, who has gone from Illinois to West Virginia to Virginia Tech, where he’s now a senior.
We saw him in 19 games as an Illinois freshman, averaging 2.4 points and 2.1 rebounds. He scored eight in that Elite Eight loss to UConn. At West Virginia the following season, he averaged 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. Then came another jump: 14.3 points and 7.4 rebounds at Virginia Tech last season, starting all 30 of his appearances and earning All-ACC honorable mention.
He was the Hokies’ leading scorer. Eight double-doubles, too. That’s quite a bit of ground covered since those brief appearances in Champaign.
His senior season has started with 16 points against Coppin State and a career-high 23 against Mercer on November 5, when he made nine of 13 shots in a 96–67 win. Through two games, he’s averaging 19.5 points and seven rebounds.
There’s another Big Ten connection on his calendar tonight: Virginia Tech faces Iowa in Sioux City at 6 p.m. Central, an hour before Illinois–Texas Tech. Iowa’s preview gives us the current numbers and matchup. Amani is no longer the young player trying to find a few minutes. He’s one of the established pieces the other team has to plan for.
Nico Moretti is running the show at Lamar
Niccolò Moretti’s latest stop is Lamar, after his time at Illinois and Florida Atlantic. The Cardinals list him as Nico, and their opening-week numbers make his job pretty clear: two starts, a team-leading 32.5 minutes per game and 14 assists.
He had six points and six assists in the November 2 win over Schreiner. Saturday at Abilene Christian was a much tougher afternoon. Moretti played 39 minutes and finished with six points, five rebounds and eight assists in an 83–81 loss.
He also went 1-for-9 from the floor. There’s no reason to hide that part. But the eight assists and nearly full-game workload show how much Lamar is asking him to handle even when his own shot isn’t going in. Seven assists a game is a good reason to keep checking on him, not just the scoring column.
Skyy Clark’s latest stop is LSU
Skyy Clark is a fifth-year senior at LSU now, following his stops at Illinois, Louisville and UCLA. He has started each of the Tigers’ first three regular-season games.
Monday brought his busiest scoring night so far: nine points, three rebounds, an assist and five steals in LSU’s 90–50 win over Louisiana Tech. The final box score has him at 4-for-8 from the floor in 28:45.
He was scoreless in the opener and had four points against Texas Southern. Nine points doesn’t make Monday a scoring explosion, but five steals certainly gives us another way to talk about his contribution. LSU is 3–0, and he’s been in the starting group each time.
Dra, Amani, Nico and Skyy have taken different routes since Illinois. That’s part of the fun of following them: a familiar name on a new roster can turn into a much different job than the one we remember.
This Day in Illini History
November 10, 2017: Brad Underwood’s first official game as Illinois coach ended with a 102–55 win over Southern at State Farm Center. Nine years later, that debut is worth a look beyond the final score.
Mark Alstork had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Aaron Jordan added a then-career-high 17. Illinois forced 22 turnovers and turned them into 33 points. The Illini reached 102 while making only four of their 21 three-point attempts, according to the original game recap.
Four made threes and a hundred points. That tells you how much was happening elsewhere.
It was Illinois’ first 100-point season opener since 1990. The 47-point margin was the largest modern-era debut win by an Illinois coach, as the next day’s official notes pointed out.
Jordan’s night is a nice part of that memory. The junior shared the scoring lead in the first game of a new coaching era, while Alstork, a graduate transfer, began his Illinois season with a double-double. There was plenty to sort out after that opener, but the first night gave both of them a good start.
Tonight is a considerably different assignment for Underwood, with a ranked road opponent and one of his former guards in the starting lineup across from him.
Let’s go, Illini!!