Nov. 11, 2011
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Illinois 67, Loyola 49
Illinois Postgame Notes
Nov. 11, 2011 // Assembly Hall // Champaign, Ill. // Attendance: 15,937
1. Illinois opened its 107th season of basketball tonight and improved to 94-13 all-time in season openers. It marks the 13th consecutive year Illinois has opened competition with a win.
2. Tonight also marked the 50th season at Assembly Hall for the Illini. Illinois improved to 42-8 in home openers at Assembly Hall.
3. Sophomore Meyers Leonard had a career game with a career-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and a career-high six blocked shots. The six blocks equals the fifth-highest single-game total in school history and marks the most for an Illini since Mike Tisdale had seven against Penn State on Jan. 12, 2010. Leonard also drained his first career three-pointer, as he beat the shot clock in the first half.
4. Illinois registered 13 blocks as a team, just one rejection shy of the school record of 14 set on Nov. 28, 1978 vs. Denver.
5. True-freshman point guard Tracy Abrams got the start in his first career game, making him the first Illini true-freshman point guard to start his first game since Dee Brown started the opener of the 2002-03 season (Nov. 24, 2002 vs. Lehigh). Abrams grabbed a game-high seven rebounds to go along with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
6. In addition to Abrams, true-freshman Nnanna Egwu also got the start in his first collegiate game, marking the second time in the Bruce Weber era that two true-freshman started in a season-opener (Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson started the 2009-10 opener on Nov. 13, 2009 vs. SIU Edwardsville). The only other freshman to start under Weber in a season opener was Brian Randle on Nov. 22, 2003 vs. Western Illinois.
7. Junior Brandon Paul continued his strong play in season-openers with 14 points against the Ramblers. Paul had 18 points in 21 minutes in last season's opener against UC Irvine and began his UI career with 22 points against SIU Edwardsville in his first game as a true-freshman in 2009. Paul has averaged 18.0 ppg in three season openers.
8. Junior Tyler Griffey reached double figures for the fourth time in his career, scoring 10 points.
9. Along with Abrams and Egwu, Sam Maniscalco, Mike Shaw, Myke Henry and Ibby Djimde each made their Illini debuts against the Ramblers. Abrams (8), Maniscalco (5), Egwu (4), Henry (2) and Shaw (2) each scored their first points in Orange and Blue.
10. The Illini forced 22 turnovers, including 10 steals. Last season, the Orange and Blue had four games where opponents had 20 or more miscues.
