Shannon Jr., Illinois outlast Oakland in hard fought win

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The 2023-24 season is now in full swing.

Illinois looked to keep its record perfect as it hosted Oakland for the second regular season game of the year.

Once again, the first half seemed to expose a few of Illinois’ weak spots with this year’s squad. Luckily, the Illini were able to figure things out late in the second half and secure the victory.

While it wasn’t pretty, Illinois got the job done as they were able to hold off Oakland 64-53 in an ugly win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Much like Monday against EIU, the Illini started off sluggish. The orange and blue shot 6-of-14 from the field in the first 10 minutes and 0-of-4 from three point land.

The sole bright spot for Illinois up to this point was Dain Dainja, who started 3-of-3 from the field.

Illinois wouldn’t take their first lead of the game until just under eight minutes left in the first when the score was 15-16.

Dainja had a team high 8 points at the half while only six Illinois players were able…