Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Northwestern

Illinois basketball heads up to Evanston on Saturday to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.

Coming off a big win against Michigan State, the Illini are looking to continue their hot play by making quick work of the Wildcats. But Northwestern isn’t a pushover team, despite their weak record.

Illinois is going to have to be on their toes against the Wildcats. We can’t be looking at the next game against No. 11 Wisconsin or we could be in for a big disappointment on Saturday.

Here are four big questions for the Illinois basketball team against Northwestern.

1. Can Illinois avoid the letdown game?

Illinois ended their two-game losing streak this past Tuesday with a triumphant win over No. 10 Michigan State.

This wasn’t just an ordinary win, though. The Illini were missing their All-American center in Kofi Cockburn and starting point guard Andre Curbelo was also out for the game. Despite missing those two elite-level talents, Illinois still forged ahead and beat the Spartans, 56-55.

It has been a fun week since we took down Michigan State, but with a big win like that, there can be the dreaded letdown game. On Saturday, I am going to keep an eye out to see if the Orange and Blue can avoid that letdown disaster against Northwestern.

I know the Wildcats don’t look like a tough team. They are 9-9 this season, but they haven’t had a bad loss. Their two non-conference defeats were to Providence and Wake Forest. They sit with a 2-7 record in the Big Ten, but five of those games came against ranked opponents.

Northwestern also took down Michigan State back on January 15, so they can beat good teams. Illinois cannot sleep on the Wildcats this Saturday. If they do, this could easily be a letdown game. That is something to watch out for this weekend.