Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Wisconsin

4. How will Wisconsin slow down Kofi?

The final slide goes hand in hand with slide No. 3. Illinois has won three straight games against Wisconsin, and a big reason, figuratively and literally, why the Illini have won three in a row is due to Kofi Cockburn.

Ever since Kofi joined the program, Illinois has been undefeated against Wisconsin. We have won three in a row, and Kofi has been dominant in each victory.

In the three games Kofi has played against the Badgers, he has averaged 19 points and nine rebounds per game. He is 23-of-35 from the field, which comes out to 65.7%. That is a force that the Badgers have failed to stop during his career.

The final big question is will Wisconsin be able to finally slow down Kofi?

Wisconsin wasn’t able to stop Kofi last season and most of their size is back this year. Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl will most likely be tasked with trying to get a handle on the big man. Wahl is undersized and, despite being 7-foot tall, Crowl has struggled against other big men this season.

At this point, I don’t think it is a matter of will Kofi go off against Wisconsin. I believe it is a matter of how high can he get his numbers. I am going to be watching to see if Wisconsin can get a handle of Kofi on Wednesday night. My guess is, no.