The Illinois basketball team is coming off their first Big Ten win of the season against Indiana last Wednesday.
Illinois needs to feed off this momentum by making their winning streak two games tonight as they take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Champaign. This is a big game for the Illini considering, if they win, it would move them to above .500 heading into February.
NCAA tournament hopes are way in the distance, if not gone, for Illini fans. The team is currently 11-11 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play. But, a win tonight would be a step closer to at least making the NIT.
Rutgers is another team Illinois matches up nicely with. They aren’t a big team by any means. Their impact players are all pretty small with the exception of Issa Thiam who is 6-foot-10, 190-pounds, but is only averaging 7.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. I think it is fair to say, Rutgers’ big men are much like the Illini. They are lanky and rebounding is not their forte.
Since both teams are similar matchups as far as size goes, let’s take a look at the Scarlet Knights firepower.
Rutgers is only averaging 65.5 points per game which ranks No. 314 in the nation. They are one of the worst scoring teams in the country considering there are only 351 total programs. Their leading scorer is the infamous Corey Sanders.
Sanders is averaging 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists this season, but he is doing it at a relatively inefficient clip. He is only shooting 38.5-percent from the field and 22.4-percent from three-point land. This includes his last game in which Rutgers fell to Penn State by 17 points, and Sanders finished 0-of-7 from the field and 0-of-3 from deep.
The Scarlet Knights don’t have a ton of firepower, so Illinois needs to put a lot of pressure on Sanders. He will be the main ball handler for Rutgers and that means Trent Frazier is likely to guard him. Frazier has been playing great defense and that needs to continue tonight. Shutdown Sanders and Illinois will win the game.
One advantage Rutgers will have on the Illini is their rebounding ability. They average 39.5 rebounds per game which ranks No. 23 in the nation. They don’t have size but their guards are tremendous at pulling down the boards. The key for the Illini here is to go back to fundamentals. Make sure you aren’t running down the court when a shot is put up. Gang-rebound the ball and make sure to box out. These are concepts learned in elementary school. Stick to the fundamentals.
Next: 5 takeaways from the Illini win over Indiana
Honestly, Rutgers isn’t a very good team. They have a few nice wins this season, but they are 0-5 on the road with an average margin of defeat by 17.8 points per game. Illinois should be able to win tonight. They need to come out strong and this game should be in the bag by halftime. The Illini are better and they need to show it.