Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini vs Cincinnati

4. Can we make this a statement game?

The final thing I am going to keep an eye on against Cincinnati will be a statement game. Can Illinois come out and just lay a number on the Bearcats and make this a statement game?

Cincinnati is a 4-0 program, but they aren’t a good team. They are coming off a 12-11 campaign and haven’t played anyone good this season. Honestly, they are pretty equal to a team like Marquette.

Illinois played badly against Marquette, though. I said this in a previous slide, but the Illini showing against the Golden Eagles was the worst performance in the Brad Underwood era. Despite the bad performance, we had the ball in the waning moments only down one point. We should have won that game.

I think the Orange and Blue need to put a big number up against Cincinnati. This needs to be a statement game because there are a lot of people who are doubting the Illini right now.

Illinois is finally healthy and off suspension. This is the team that we should see all season long. The defense will be okay because they always do their thing. Can the Illinois offense look like the well-oiled machine that everyone has been expecting?

At the end of the day, this needs to be a big win for the Illini. The spread is -9.5 in favor of Illinois, but I am wanting and expecting Illinois to win by 15 or more points. That is what I am going to be watching for tonight.