In fact, Illinois (1-0) was up just 36-32 at the half. The Illini pulled away after the break, but few expected Detroit Mercy (1-1) to give Illinois even 20 consecutive minutes of tough play on its State Farm Center floor.

Illini coach Shauna Green was asked about her message to the team at halftime, and based on her sarcastic tone, it sounded like the message likely had something of an edge.

It worked, because whatever was said at halftime, Green's Illini came out of the locker room with their own edge against the Titans. Illinois outscored Detroit Mercy 48-18 in the second half.

It's a lesson better learned now, against mid-majors in November, rather than in the teeht of conference play. The Big Ten simply has too many good teams to play a first half like Illinois did and get away with it – especially if Green's crew plans to fulfill some of the highest expectations the program has seen in decades.

The general consensus was this game was going to be a runaway for the Illini. But it took much longer than expected for Illinois to put much distance between itself and Detroit Mercy on the scoreboard.

As a result, Green wasn't able to dip into her bench as deep as she might have hoped. That might not seem like a big deal with 30-some games ahead of the Illini, but it's a missed opportunity.

It's definitely preferred to evaluate deeper reserves during the non-conference portion of the season than after the start of conference play.

Illinois has its fair share of games before the Big Ten schedule tips off, but Green surely wants every chance she can get to determine what she has all the way down the roster – and under the right circumstances.