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Illinois Basketball: 3 ways the Illini can take down Northwestern

By Jalen Wilson

PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 15: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts to a play during the second half of a college basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 15, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 72-57. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 15: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts to a play during the second half of a college basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 15, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 72-57. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – FEBRUARY 07: Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini brings the ball up court during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at State Farm Center on February 7, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team is set to face off against the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston for the second time this season.

This Illini team is coming off a win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Monday night. That win helped the Orange and Blue improve to 18-9 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten, and they are currently No. 5 in the Big Ten standings.

Northwestern is coming off a loss to the Minnesota Gophers. Currently, the Wildcats are 6-20 overall and 1-15 in the Big Ten and are last place in the conference. This isn’t a good Northwestern program

Illinois is riding a two-game winning streak going into this game while Northwestern is currently on an 11-game losing streak. The last time these two teams met each other was on January 18. Illinois won that match-up 75-71 as that game was closer than Illini fans would have liked it to be. The Illini did go through scoring droughts and played bad defense that game, though.

This is an important game for Illinois. Since Northwestern has a 6-20 overall record, if Illinois loses, their NCAA tournament hopes may be in jeopardy. This is the best shot the Illinois basketball program has had at the Big Dance since the 2012-13 season.

Even after beating Nebraska, Illinois is still looking at the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. You can’t be shocked by this as Nebraska isn’t the most challenging team in the Big Ten. A win is expected but a loss would be damaging.

So without further ado, here are the three ways the Illini can take down Northwestern.

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