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Illinois fans didn’t come into Monday night expecting drama, but the Illini’s second game in three days delivered its share. Whether it was the short turnaround, the sluggish legs or simply overlooking an undersized UTRGV team, Illinois never quite found its rhythm against the Vaqueros. The Illini stumbled out of the gate, letting the visitors hang around far longer than anyone at the State Farm Center had any reason to expect. It wasn’t sharp basketball, but the Illini were still able to pull out an 87-73 victory.

The biggest issue (again) was the three-point shooting. Illinois hit just 26.7 percent (8-for-30) from deep – another night when the shots simply refused to fall. At some point, the Illini are going to have to see the ball go through the net from beyond the arc if they want to reach their ceiling. But on this night, they survived by finding offense in other ways: attacking early in the clock, getting downhill and letting individual playmakers take over.

The best spark came from Andrej Stojakovic, who essentially carried the scoring load in the first half. He played with a level of decisiveness the Illini needed, finishing with an impressive 24 points and keeping the lead from slipping into anything dangerous. Off the bench, Brandon Lee gave Illinois an unexpected jolt – it was just two minutes before halftime (and a total of four for the game), but his four quick points and energy woke up the crowd and, for a moment, the team.

The biggest storyline of the night, however, was the clear arrival of Mihailo Petrovic. After shaking off rust in earlier outings, Petrovic looked like a completely different player – pushing the pace and taking Illinois’ offense to a level it didn’t otherwise reach against UTRGV. He played with a poise and burst that immediately changed the game’s feel and earned plenty of praise from fans online who had been waiting for this version of him.

Illinois finally stretched the lead to 11 at halftime, and although the second half never turned into the blowout many expected, the Illini at least controlled things enough to grind out a double-digit win. Still, it wasn’t pretty. Turnovers, missed threes, defensive lapses – there was plenty for Illini Twitter to pick apart. In the end, a win is a win, but the performance left the fan base buzzing with opinions about what needs to improve before the schedule gets tougher.

Put it in a safe!

Skill in bunches

The three-point shooting has been off

This UTRGV team is sneaky -good

A bit of a slow start

The crown jewel of the offseason for a reason

Eurovision

Petrovic can play

Can’t wait to see a full Illinois roster

Where’s the optimism?

Tell ’em, Jon

UConn up next on Black Friday