Illinois Basketball: 4 keys for the Illini to beat Rutgers

4. Win the battle of the benches

Something these two teams have in common is that they both have some talented pieces coming off their benches.

Myles Johnson will be the biggest threat for the Illini coming off the Rutgers bench.  As I stated in key No. 2, Johnson leads the team in rebounding with nine boards per contest and is averaging 8.6 points per game.

Senior guard Geo Baker also has potential to give the Illini problems coming off the bench.  In each of his three seasons with Rutgers, Baker has averaged over 10 points per contest.  Despite only seeing just nine minutes all season prior to Rutgers’ recent victory at Maryland, the senior guard was able to come off the bench against the Terrapins and rack up 13 points in the contest.  Baker also recorded 3 assists, 3 boards, and was 3-of-3 from three-point range.

Though Baker has been very limited this season due to an ankle injury, the senior guard was able to play 28 minutes in the Scarlet Knights’ previous game.  Therefore, he should see a hefty number of minutes in today’s contest as well.

Illinois’ freshman guard Andre Curbelo and junior forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili have been vital for the Orange and Blue coming off the bench.

Curbelo is averaging 10.7 points per game and shooting a team-high of 61.7-percent from the field.  The freshman is also averaging 3.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds per contest.  He had an eye-opening performance coming off the bench in the Illini’s November 26 matchup against Chicago State, where he recorded 18 points and 7 rebounds.

Bezhanishvili is averaging 6.4 points and 3.7 points per game coming off the bench this season.  This includes an impressive 15-point, 4-rebound performance against No. 2 Baylor.  The junior big man shot 70-percent from the field in the contest.

The Illini will need to have the advantage in many of this game’s aspects – especially bench production – if they want to come away with the roadkill.  It will be crucial if the Illini’s two notable bench players produce more than Rutgers’ two notable bench players.

If the Illini can check most, if not all, of these boxes, they will be in a great position to knock off an undefeated, ranked Big Ten opponent on the road and improve to 2-0 in conference play.