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Illinois Basketball: Upcoming stretch will show progression for Illini

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 23: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) looks to inbound the ball as Wisconsin Badgers guard Kobe King (23) gets his arms up during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 23, 2019, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 23: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) looks to inbound the ball as Wisconsin Badgers guard Kobe King (23) gets his arms up during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 23, 2019, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Illinois basketball team had another win on Saturday evening against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

This was a solid victory for the Orange and Blue, and the third win in a row for the young team on the rise. Illinois now moves to 9-15 on the season and 5-8 in Big Ten play. It is fun seeing this team gain confidence and come together, but can they continue this hot streak during the upcoming four-game stretch?

While the Illini have been winning, the victories are coming at home this season. They have won three in a row, four out of their last five and five out of their last eight, but it is time to see if we can prove ourselves on the road.

When you break down the home games versus the road games, Illinois is a completely different team when traveling. This is expected with a young program as I wrote about a few weeks ago. The Illini are 9-4 at home this season and only 0-11 on the road. The next stretch of games will show you how well this team has progressed this season.

Illinois has Ohio State on the road this Thursday, February 14. Hopefully, it will be a nice Valentine’s Day for the Illini. Ohio State already beat Illinois this season up at the United Center, which I counted as a road game, so another road test is expected to be tough.

The following game for Illinois is on Monday, February 18 at No. 19 Wisconsin. This is a really hard game for the Illini considering they always seem to struggle against the Badgers, and we fell to Wisconsin at home earlier this season by 12 points. A win here would be huge for the program.

Illinois then comes back home against Penn State on February 23. The final game of the four-game stretch is going to be at No. 15 Purdue. This is the only time the Illini will face the Boilermakers this season, but Purdue has played some good basketball. Going on the road against a ranked team is going to be a big-time challenge for this young group.

5 observations from the Illini win over Rutgers. dark. Next

The winning has been fun to watch, and I am enjoying every second of it. Now we get to see how well this team has matured on the basketball court with the upcoming stretch of games. Three road games in a four-game stretch, which includes two ranked contests, is a tough test. I am excited to see how this team responds.

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