Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Purdue

2. Can Kofi get some help from the bench?

While I will be watching to see who will win the three-point shooting battle, there will also be a battle in the paint for rebounds.

Kofi Cockburn has been incredible this season. His 21.9 points per game are great, but I believe his 12.3 rebounds per game help this team just as much. Kofi can pull down rebounds with the best of the best. His 12.3 rebounds per game rank No. 3 in the country.

But Illinois isn’t going up against a team that is small and can’t rebound. The last time we went up against a rebounding team as good as Purdue was a few weeks back against Arizona, and we lost that game.

As a team, the Boilermakers are pulling down 40.8 rebounds per game, which ranks No. 10 in the country. That is eight spots behind Illinois, who ranks No. 2 in the country at 43.1 rebounds per game. The tricky part about Purdue is the fact they have a couple of good rebounding big men.

Trevion Williams leads Purdue with 8.6 rebounds per game. He checks in at 6-foot-10. Zach Edey is right behind Williams with 7.5 rebounds per game. He is 7-foot-4. That is a lot of size for Kofi to deal with in the paint.

Will Kofi have some help off the bench so he doesn’t get too worn out early on? Obviously, the main player I am eyeing is Omar Payne.

Payne has great size at 6-foot-10, but he isn’t great on the offensive end. But, honestly, I am not caring how good Payne is offensively right now. He is a solid defender, and that is what we are going to need on Monday. We are going to need someone who can spell minutes for Kofi and not give up easy points around the hoop.

So, I am going to watch to see if Payne can be a solid replacement for Kofi when the big man gets tired. Will we get help off the bench? That is something to keep an eye on.