Illinois Basketball: 4 keys for the Illini to beat Michigan State

4. Control Aaron Henry, you control Michigan State

Michigan State is going to be good again next season, but for right now, the Spartans are an average team with a couple of pretty good players.

The best player on the Michigan State roster is Aaron Henry. The kid has been amazing this season and continues to lead the Spartans in almost every metric you can look at. He was also a one-time Illinois target in the recruiting market, so it would be nice to take him down.

Henry has been fantastic this season, though. In his last game against Indiana, the former Hoosier State high school star put up 27 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block while shooting 9-of-17 from the field. He also got to the free throw line nine times and hit eight of his attempts.

This isn’t something new to Henry. He now averages 15 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game this season. He leads the Spartans in points, assists, steals and blocks as well.

Illinois might be a little undersized when it comes to guarding Henry, but they have enough defensive firepower to take the kid down. I want to see Da’Monte Williams tasked with guarding Henry to start the game. I believe Williams can give the Michigan State wing troubles, which will hopefully get him off his groove early on. This will enable the Illini to get out to a decent lead.

This can’t be a man-on-man game, though. Williams is going to need help. When Henry drives baseline, the Illini help defense needs to be able to rotate on time and not get caught in position for a blocking foul. Henry likes to get to the free throw line.

A tough team effort against Henry should take care of Michigan State’s main threat on the offensive end of the court. This will be one of the major keys to getting a win over the Spartans.