College basketball season is off and running with every team already playing at least one game on Monday night and a few on Tuesday all the local teams played on Monday starting with Southern Illinois kicking off the season at 11 am playing Charleston in the Field of 68 Showcase. Illinois, Illinois State, and Bradley were all in action at 7. Illinois played Eastern at home, Illinois State was at home against UT Martin, and Bradley was at home against Southeast Missouri. There was also a top ten matchup between number 6 Gonzaga and number 8 Baylor. Texas also played a close game with Ohio State.
Local Stories
Southern Illinois Salukis
Starting with the early game in Sioux Falls between Missouri Valley preseason ranked 7th SIU with a new coach in Scott Nagy and the College of Charleston who went 27-8 and played Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament. SIU’s leading scorer was Elijah Elliot with 23 points the next closest scorer had 14. SIU settled for a lot of 3 point shots in the first half and they shot 5/21 which led to Charleston taking an early lead and SIU never being able to get in front, leading to SIU falling to Charleston 80-90.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Moving up north the Illinois Fighting Illini faced off against the Eastern Illinois Panthers in Champaign at the State Farm Center. The Fighting Illini were left out of the top 25 preseason poll, and picked to finish 4th in the Big Ten preseason rankings. In their exhibition against Ole Miss they were blown out 91-74. There were some bright spots for the Illini with freshman Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionis looking very promising in the exhibition. That continued into the Illini’s first game against Eastern Illinois where they won 116-67. With Kasparas Jakucionis scoring 11 points, along with Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scoring 21 and Will Riley with 31 points. The Illini showed their potential on offense in their first game but the Illinis first test will come in Birmingham against number 2 ranked Alabama in the coming week.
Illinois State Redbirds
Moving over to Normal where Illinois State who was ranked 4th in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, after going 15-17 last season. faced off against UT Martin in a tight contest, the Redbirds were led in scoring by freshman Jack Daugherty with 15 points. The Redbirds shot terribly from three point land throughout the contest shooting 19 percent from three. But they still had a chance to win it at the end of regulation and the Redbirds inbounded the ball from the baseline and pushed it down the court and had an open look for a layup to win the game and missed it leading to the Redbirds first loss of the 2024-2025 campaign.
Bradley Braves
On the other side of the War on 74 with Bradley coming into the season they have high expectations being voted the favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason poll. Along with the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year in fifth year point guard Duke Deen. The Braves faced off against Southeastern Missouri State at Carver Arena. The Braves were led in points by freshman Jaquan Johnson and senior Christain Davis. The Braves shot 43.5 percent from three and a sparkling 55 percent from the field, helping earn the Braves a 88-60 victory.
National Stories
On the flight to Houston the Auburn Tigers plane turned around because there were players reportedly fighting on the plane. It ultimately didn’t affect the team as they went into Houston and beat number 8 Houston 74-69 in a defensive battle with both teams shooting less than 40% form three with top prospect Tahaad Pettiford scoring 21 points.
Kansas Vs North Carolina
In a highly anticipated match up between two top ten teams, Kansas pulled out to a 20 point lead over North Carolina. Only for North Carolina to flip the script in the second half out, scoring the Jayhawks by 20 points and taking the lead but ultimately down the stretch were unable to keep the lead in the final minutes. With the game down to 10 seconds left and a one possession game Elliot Cadeau threw up a 3 pointer to win the game, but it fell short as the Jayhawks held on to win 89-92.
North Florida Ospreys
North Florida has been the early Cinderella this year. The Ospreys upset South Carolina and Georgia Tech putting up 105 points on Georgia Tech. They take on Georgia this Tuesday at 6. They are now the favorites to win the ASUN and make it to March Madness and be a cinderella.
