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Brad Underwood, Illinois take down preseason No. 1 Kansas in scrimmage

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

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Brad Underwood knows it is still October, and games (or rather scrimmages) do not count for anything official. However, he’s still pleased with how his Illinois program looked against Kansas, the preseason No. 1 team in the country.

When it was all said and done, the Illini finished off Sunday’s “Maui Strong” scrimmage with an 82-75 “upset” of Kansas. This one is far from an official win, but it shows a glimpse at what Illinois can put together.

“We had a little resolve. I would’ve loved if we had gotten a rebound in the last 30 seconds, but we knew what they were gonna do, where they were going,” said the head coach after the scrimmage. “I thought we did a great job. I thought Coleman Hawkins defensively was elite, hit a big shot. Terrence (Shannon) was great.”

As for the benefits of the scrimmage, Underwood pointed to his team getting to face “real dudes,” including Hunter Dickinson. The former Michigan star is a preseason All-American for Kansas after transferring to the Jayhawks.

“It’s real. It’s real. I mean those are real dudes. That’s a first-team American, arguably the best PG in the country,” Underwood explained. “They’re experienced, they’re knowledgeable… To do that means something, but it’s October. A lot of situations, lot of learning and we’ll use the film to try and get better.”

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.