My succint recap of Illini’s dominating win over USC last night.
Belt. To. Booty.
That is all.
Illini In The Pros
Coming Home
The NBA’s All-Star break sent players to Los Angeles for the festivities. But for a remarkable number of former Illinois players, the break meant a trip back to Champaign.
Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionis sat together on the north side of State Farm Center on Sunday, watching Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic power Illinois to a 71-51 demolition of Indiana. It wasn’t long ago that Riley and Jakucionis were the two freshmen leading the Illini to Big Ten wins on their way to becoming one-and-done NBA Draft picks. Riley, who turned 20 on February 10, is averaging 7.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 43 games for the Washington Wizards this season — but he’s been scorching hot lately, averaging 18.2 points on 49.3 percent shooting through his first five February games, including a career-high 27 against Brooklyn.
“It feels like yesterday,” Riley said of being back. “It feels like I should be on the court right now. It’s crazy. It went by very quick.”
Jakucionis echoed the sentiment. The 19-year-old rookie, who just lit up Washington and Utah for back-to-back six-three-pointer games to become the youngest rookie in NBA history to score 20-plus with six or more threes in consecutive outings, told Fox Illinois simply: “And to be honest, it feels like never left.”
But the best story of the weekend belonged to Terrence Shannon Jr. The Timberwolves guard, still working his way back from a left foot injury that sidelined him since Christmas Day, was in Champaign for multiple days. Shannon didn’t just watch.
