In this series, we’ll look ahead at Mizzou’s opponents in the upcoming 2023-24 season. We’ll continue by previewing the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Date & Location: Dec. 22 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis
2022-23 Record: 20-13 overall (11-9 Big Ten)
NCAA Tournament Finish: Lost to No. 8 seed Arkansas in the Round of 64
KEY LOSSES
Skyy Clark (transferred), Jayden Epps (transferred), Matthew Mayer (graduated), RJ Melendez (transferred)
KEY RETURNERS
Dain Dainja, Luke Goode, Sencire Harris, Coleman Hawkins, Niccolo Moretti, Ty Rodgers, Terrence Shannon Jr.
KEY INCOMING TRANSFERS
Marcus Domask (Southern Illinois, 16.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.8 apg), Quincy Guerrier (Oregon, 9.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.0 apg), Justin Harmon (Utah Valley, 14 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.9 apg)
KEY INCOMING FRESHMEN
Amani Hansberry (No. 86), Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn (No. 108), Zacharie Perrin (N/A)
OUTLOOK
Illinois had high hopes last year entering their sixth season under head coach Brad Underwood. The Fighting Illini, coming off back-to-back trips to the second round of the Big Dance, landed a handful of big-name newcomers and looked poised to make an even deeper postseason run. The team was ranked No. 23 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll and had climbed to No. 16 heading into the Braggin’ Rights rivalry game against Missouri on Dec. 22.
But the season quickly went sideways. Illinois suffered a blowout 93-71 loss to the Tigers. The team bounced back with a home win over Bethune-Cookman but then dropped its conference opener against Northwestern on Jan. 6. Starting freshman point guard Skyy Clark departed the program two days later. The Fighting Illini won seven of their next eight games but closed out the season going 4-7, getting eliminated in their opening games of both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
There’s a feeling of unfinished business for the team, a big reason that many of its top contributors chose to return to Champaign, Ill. In Terrence Shannon Jr., Coleman Hawkins, Dain Dainja and Sencire Harris, Illinois retained three of its top four leaders in points, rebounds, steals and blocks from last year. Both the offensive and defensive identities for a team that finished 35th in Kenpom’s adjusted efficiency margin should be the same.
Hawkins and Dainja provide a tough-to-deal-with combination in the frontcourt. Dainja earned the starting nod after Clark’s departure and made immediate use of his 6-foot-9, 270-pound frame around the rim on both ends of the court. According to Kenpom, the big man shot 63.6% on 2-pointers, which ranked 86th in the nation, and was top-300 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. Hawkins was the Illini’s starting center while Clark was still on the roster but proved he had the skills to complement Dainja once they started playing together more. Hawkins is able to play more on the ball, leading the team with 3.0 assists per game last season. And while he’s an underwhelming shooter, connecting on just 28.1 of his 3-pointers, he’s enough of a threat to give Dainja room to work inside. Together, the forwards locked down the paint, holding opponents to just 45.1% inside the arc.
Behind Hawkins and Dainja, Illinois can expect to rely on Oregon graduate transfer Quincy Guerrier and returning sophomore Ty Rodgers to bring experience off the bench. Freshmen Amani Hansberry and Zacharie Perrin could find minutes in the rotation as well.
Shannon will once again be the go-to option on offense after averaging a career-high 17.2 points last season. But the senior was miscast as the team’s primary ball-handler without Clark, as Shannon just barely managed to keep a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. That issue might still persist heading into this year with the Illini’s current collection of guards.
Harris was an extremely productive defender, leading the team by coming up with a steal on 3.3% of possessions per Kenpom. But he showed little playmaking ability, posting 0.9 assists in 14.5 minutes per game. The same goes for Justin Harmon, who was the leading scorer for a Utah Valley team that won 28 games and reached the NIT semifinals last year, but also ended the season with a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Underwood’s other options include Bologna, Italy native Niccolo Moretti, who was added to the roster after Clark left but received a redshirt for the spring semester, and four-star freshman Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn.
The starting wing spot will likely come down to who can knock down shots from deep consistently — Illinois finished 335th in the nation making just 30.8% of their 3s. Southern Illinois transfer Marcus Domask is a career 35.9% shooter from outside and might help alleviate some of the ball-handling concerns of the backcourt as he’s handed out 3.4 assists per game across his four seasons. But returning junior Luke Goode canned a team-high 42.1% of his triples in his 10 appearances after returning from injury last year and will be due for bigger minutes.
There will be several familiar faces in this season’s Braggin’ Rights game. But Missouri shouldn’t expect to face the same team they torched for a 22-point victory last year.
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