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Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Northwestern

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 25: A.J. Hoggard #11 of the Michigan State Spartans takes a shot over Omar Payne #4 and Alfonso Plummer #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half at State Farm Center on January 25, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 25: A.J. Hoggard #11 of the Michigan State Spartans takes a shot over Omar Payne #4 and Alfonso Plummer #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half at State Farm Center on January 25, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 25: Omar Payne #4 of the Illinois Fighting Illini blocks the shot of Tyson Walker #2 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at State Farm Center on January 25, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 25: Omar Payne #4 of the Illinois Fighting Illini blocks the shot of Tyson Walker #2 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at State Farm Center on January 25, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

2. Will the Illini play defense as they did against Michigan State?

Heading into the game against Michigan State on Tuesday, I was worried about how many points the Illini would surrender. We just gave up 81 points to Maryland and Purdue scored 96 points, albeit in double overtime, the game prior.

Thankfully, the Illinois defense showed up in a big way against the Spartans. The Illini only gave up 55 points against Michigan State, which is a big reason we won the game. If it wasn’t for our defense, it would probably have been a double-digital loss.

On Saturday, I am going to be watching to see if Illinois can play that same type of defense against Northwestern. We are going to need to because the Wildcats are sporting a pretty solid offensive unit.

Through 18 games this season, Northwestern is averaging 75.4 points per game, which ranks No. 52 in the nation. That is better than normal for a Northwestern bunch. They have elevated their scoring compared to last season when they only averaged 69 points per game.

But it does seem that the Wildcats have cooled on offense as of late. In the last four games, Northwestern has scored just 67.5 points per game, which is well below their season average.

Illinois is going to need to take advantage of the cooling Wildcats offense. I want to continue to see great communication. Even with the patchwork lineup we have to put out there, guys like Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk are communicating when they come back down the court on defense. Communication helps greatly on defense. I also want to see strong closeouts. Hands need to be up and in the face of the three-point shooter.

Illinois did both of these things well against Michigan State. I expect to see it again against Northwestern.

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