It took Alex Legion only 11 seconds to get his name into an Illinois scorebook — by fouling Detroit’s Woody Payne.
But that’s about all that went wrong for the Illini as the Kentucky transfer made his debut Saturday night in the Illini’s 82-51 victory at the Assembly Hall.
Legion scored six points in 18 minutes, making his first two shots before finishing 2 of 6 from the floor, including 2 of 5 on three-pointers.
“I was nervous, only my eighth college game,” Legion said.
While Legion is expected to be a big boost to the Illini’s outside shooting, his teammates carried the load against the Titans (3-7), firing away at a 64.4 clip, including 61.1 on three-pointers.
Trent Meacham and Mike Tisdale led Illinois (10-1) with 15 points apiece.
Meacham was 5 of 5 and Tisdale 7 of 9. Thomas Kennedy led the Titans with 17 points.
Legion knows what he still must work on — defense.
“Coach said I had chances to take charges, so need to work on my team defense,” Legion said.
“And I’d say shot selection. I have to take shots in rhythm, not catch and shoot.”
Illinois scored the first nine points of the second half, the last five by Calvin Brock, to take a 43-26 lead and settle the issue.
The game was a tuneup for Tuesday’s annual meeting with once-beaten Missouri in St. Louis in the Braggin’ Rights game.
Coach Bruce Weber stuck to his usual nine-man rotation to start the game, so Legion was the 10th Illini to get in. Legion’s debut added a buzz to an otherwise routine December non-conference game as he drew applause simply for walking to the scorer’s table with 12 minutes 57 seconds left in the first half.
He drilled his first shot, a three-pointer from the corner that gave Illinois an 18-12 lead at the 12:28 mark.
Legion picked up his second foul with 8:38 remaining in the half, and went to the bench for the rest of the period, having played 4:19.
Legion entered in the second half at the 13:48 mark after Illinois had pulled away to a 47-28 lead.
At the 11:40 mark, he drilled a three-pointer from the left wing to make it 55-33.
Legion’s challenge will be tougher Tuesday when Illinois meets Missouri.
“I didn’t get to play during the conference season last year so it’s going to be exciting to fly to different schools and play against top competition.” Legion said before the game.
“With Kentucky, it was all home games, so the Missouri game will be my first road trip.”
Legion said his decision to transfer to Illinois was influenced by watching the 2005 Final Four team featuring Dee Brown and Luther Head.
“I’ve always liked the University of Illinois,” Legion said. “It was always in my top five. I remember coach Weber coming to my school when I was at Detroit Country Day. I was a sophomore at the time and I was coming out of class and I saw him there.
“Also just watching Dee and Luther growing up. This was a decision I wanted to make for myself and I’m glad I made this decision.”
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tabannon@tribune.com
