After dominating Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville in the first two games of the 2024-25 season, Illinois (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) finally looked mortal Wednesday night.

Facing Oakland (1-2, 0-0 Horizon League), coach Greg Kampe — the Yoda of coaches in Division I basketball — and an infamous Golden Grizzlies zone defense, the Illini struggled to move the ball and get open looks that he came so easy in the first two games.

In a slugfest, Illinois cruised to a 66-54 victory. And while the Illini certainly didn’t earn any style points for it, they took care of business, maintained an unblemished record and set up their biggest deal yet — next week’s matchup with No. 2 Alabama in Birmingham.

To get more insight into the win in Oakland — and perhaps learn something about what could be in store for the Illini — let’s take a closer look at the numbers that decided Wednesday’s game:

In a game marked by mistakes and sloppy play, the Illini finished with 18 turnovers. Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis he had a team of five, looking mostly flustered and confused — unlike anything we’ve seen from the player who entered the game averaging 10.0 assists. But Jakucionis was not alone. veteran guard Tre White had four turnovers, and many of the Illini proved shaky and sloppy against Oakland. Mistakes are always expected in early November, and a month from now, these mistakes can be characterized as learning experiences. But with the Crimson Tide still on the line, Illinois doesn’t have that much to look forward to. Illini fans better hope this is a roster full of fast learners.

The Illini entered the Golden Grizzlies game shooting 40 threes per game and hitting 38.8 percent. Against Oakland, that number dropped to 28.0 percent (on 7-for-25 shooting). And while the number of attempts can be rationalized to some extent by the slower pace of the game, the seven results cannot be explained. The Illini got plenty of open looks against the zone — especially in the corners — but not much fell. An off night was inevitable at one point, but Illinois needs to rediscover its rhythm by next Wednesday to have a chance to upset Alabama.

As the lone bright spot in Illinois’ victory, big Tomislav Ivisic – uniform no. 20 – consistently dominated for the Illini. Ivisic shot 9-for-14 from the field, scoring 20 points, in addition to adding six boards. Making his living bunnies in the paint, he was Illinois’ only answer to the Golden Grizzlies’ unorthodox defense. On the other end, Ivisic had a similar impact, finishing with four steals – all in the first half. For what it’s worth, it’s the highest single-game total by any 7-footer in the country so far this season.

‘Feels like the league’: Illinois basketball has NBA flavor

Snapshot: Illinois basketball wins 66-54 over Oakland

Watch: Illinois G Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn Steal and Slam vs. Oakland