Illinois vs. FDU | 7 p.m. Central | State Farm Center
TV: Big Ten Network, with Cory Provus and Bruce Weber. Streaming: FOX One.
Here we go!! The regular season starts tonight, with No. 3 Illinois back at State Farm Center. There’s a new group ready to give us another winter’s worth of games to obsess, and plenty of familiar names still giving us reasons to check scores all over the world.
Malcolm Hill has a new chapter in Romania. Andrés Feliz started another Real Madrid win Sunday. RJ Meléndez and Quincy Guerrier both put up double figures over the weekend. Before tipoff in Champaign, let’s catch up.
Malcolm’s next chapter
Malcolm Hill joined U-BT Cluj-Napoca this summer after a season with the Delaware Blue Coats. His new club introduced him as a versatile wing who could work at several positions. After years moving between NBA and G League opportunities, he’s back in Europe.
His October 23 ABA League game against SC Derby gave us a good reason to check in. Malcolm started and scored 15 points in a 100–78 win, playing 25:09. He made five of eight shots, including two of four threes, and added two steals without a turnover.
The playing time has moved around early in the ABA season. He played 19:46 against Vienna, 13:10 against Dubai and 4:52 against Spartak before that 25-minute outing against SC Derby. That makes the bigger role in the October 23 win worth following.
Feliz and Madrid keep winning
Andrés Feliz started and scored four points in Real Madrid’s 90–79 win over Burgos on Sunday, November 1. Madrid moved to 6–0 in league play and stretched its winning streak across the Spanish league and EuroLeague to 11 games.
There was a little history happening beside him. Walter Tavares became the ACB’s all-time blocks leader, reaching 739. The game paused for a tribute after the record-setting block early in the third quarter.
Feliz was part of the starting group on a day when Madrid got substantial scoring from its bench. Eleven straight wins takes contributions from a lot of people, and it’s good to keep seeing Andrés in the middle of it.
RJ gets to 14 in Verona
RJ Meléndez scored 14 in Verona’s 99–88 home loss to Varese on October 31. Verona trailed by only two entering the fourth quarter, before Varese pulled away.
The club’s recap singles out two consecutive RJ dunks in the second quarter and a three-point play early in the fourth that cut the deficit to four. He was giving Verona chances to stay in it. Mike Tobey led the team with 27 points and 15 rebounds, but Varese won the final quarter 26–17.
Quincy’s busy week in Romania
Quincy Guerrier had 19 points in Oradea’s 96–79 loss at Rapid București on October 31. Oradea led 45–41 at halftime before Rapid took over in the third quarter.
The club has another road trip coming Tuesday, November 3, against Mykonos in the FIBA Europe Cup. That gives Quincy a quick chance to follow up a productive scoring night as Oradea tries to recover from a difficult second half in Bucharest.
This Day in Illini History
November 2, 2010: No. 13 Illinois closed exhibition play with a 76–67 win over Southern Indiana at Assembly Hall.
Mike Tisdale scored 21 points, and Mike Davis had 11 points and 14 rebounds. D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul added 10 apiece. Southern Indiana tied it at 47 before Illinois answered with six straight points.
The Illini held the visitors to 35 percent shooting, but 23 Illinois turnovers and 18 Southern Indiana offensive rebounds kept things interesting. That’s a lot of extra chances to hand somebody.
Paul hit two late threes, Tisdale added another, and Illinois made six of seven free throws down the stretch. Sixteen years later, we’re back in the same building for another November beginning, with a different group of Illini to follow.
Let’s go, Illini!!