Brown Bears Drop 89-68 Decision To Illinois, Lose 4th Straight
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Brown Bears Drop 89-68 Decision To Illinois, Lose 4th Straight
Steven Spieth led all scorers with a career high 21 points in the game on seven of ten shooting from the field and six of eight from the free throw line. Along with his scoring, Spieth also grabbed seven rebounds in the game and handed out three assists. See the Five Takeaways from the game, below.
Brown led the Illini 35-31 at the half but in the second half, Illinois kicked it into high gear, scoring 58 points in the half. Aaron Crosby led Illinois with 18 points while his teammate Rayvonte Rice had a double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSee below for five takeaways from the Brown loss to Illinois.
The Bears next travel to Las Vegas to take on Austin Peay on Thanksgiving. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. at Orleans Arena
Five Takeaways From Browns 89-68 Loss to Illinois
Tavon Blackmon Returns
One positive in this game for Brown was that guard, Tavon Blackmon, returned to the line up after missing the previous two games.
He was a bit rusty as was expected, only scoring six points and dishing out one assist, and grabbing one rebound in 25 minutes of play.
If he can stay in the lineup, those numbers will go up, and the Bears will be better for it. Despite the loss, Blackmon back is a great sign for the Bears.
Steven Spieth
Steven Spieth did his best to carry the Bears to a win over the Illini. Spieth had a career high 21 points in the game and also grabbed seven rebounds and dished three assists.
This was his best game of the season, so far, and the Bears need him to continue playing this way.
He needs to cut down on his turnovers however, he had four turnovers in this game.
No Help from Bench
Brown got destroyed in the battle of the benches against Illinois, losing the battle 31-14.
Sharpshooter, J.R. Hobbie, had zero points on three attempted shots in 15 minutes played, while Kyle Haber led the Brown bench with six points in 16 minutes of play time
Brown will need more from their bench going forward
Where's Cedric?
Kuakumensah in the first half of this game looked like he was about to have a big night. After the first half, Kuakumensah had seven points and seven rebounds and only one foul.
However, in the second half he seemingly disappeared except for the two extra fouls he picked up. Kuakumensah, a two time defensive player of the year in the Ivy League, finished the game with seven points and seven rebounds and did not record a block.
This is not what the Brown Bears are looking for down the stretch out of their big man.
4 Losses in a row... But
The Brown Bears have lost four games in a row and sit at 1-4 on the season. They have gotten blown out in all four games, including a home loss to Northwestern.
However, none of the losses are what you would call "bad losses." The four teams they have lost to, so far, are at home to Northwestern, perennial NCAA tournament team out of Big 10.
Holy Cross, on the road, the Crusaders are unbeaten so far this season and will be a real contender for the Patriot League title and NCAA tournament birth.
Then they lost to Indiana State, perennial NCAA Tournament team, and Illinois, another perennial NCAA Tournament team, who is undefeated so far this season and averaging 100 points per game.
None of these losses are bad losses, and they will all help Brown come Ivy League play.
