Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Northwestern

3. How deep will Illinois go on their bench?

Brad Underwood has dealt with so many lineup disrupters this season. COVID has struck, suspension has struck, and the team has battled through injury.

But when the Illini are all on the court together, Underwood mainly sticks with a six or seven-man rotation. He doesn’t go much deeper than that. As of late, though, he has been forced to play more bodies, and this is only going to help the squad moving forward.

In the Michigan State win, Illinois was missing both Kofi Cockburn and Andre Curbelo. We still played eight players at least 12 minutes in that game. That is what I like to see. We need to be able to bring healthy bodies onto the court that are rested.

This is the strategy of the Northwestern Wildcats. They aren’t just playing their starters with one or two players off the bench. This team brings in rested players throughout the game, which keeps them in most contests.

In their close two-point loss to Michigan, Northwestern had nine players who received at least 14 minutes in the game. This isn’t unusual either. In their victory over Michigan State, the Wildcats played eight players for at least 13 minutes and had two others who received seven and eight minutes.

On Saturday, I am going to be watching to see if Underwood starts using his bench more. Northwestern is going to be bringing in fresh and rested players throughout the game. Will Underwood do the same? We have the talent to be able to do it, so let’s beat the Wildcats at their own game.