Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini at Purdue

4. How can Illinois make the rebounding battle equal?

The vast majority of the past three years has been the Illinois basketball team outrebounding our opponent. It helps to have a 7-foot beast in the middle of the paint.

In game one against Purdue, Illinois lost the rebounding battle, though. The Boilermakers finished with 46 rebounds while the Illini were only able to pull down 39 rebounds. The big question for game two on Tuesday night is; how can Illinois make the rebounding battle equal?

I think the obvious answer is Kofi Cockburn. We need him on the court for more than 22 minutes. In game one, he got into foul trouble early on and this set the tone for the rest of the game. If Kofi can actually stay on the floor consistently, he will have more than five rebounds.

Illinois’ backup big men didn’t have much luck on the glass either. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk saw the most action with 20 minutes, but he only had four rebounds. Omar Payne played seven minutes and only pulled down one rebound.

When Kofi is on the court, the rebounding battle will be equal. Purdue isn’t pulling down more offensive rebounds and they aren’t winning the rebounding battle by seven rebounds. When a Purdue big man gets the ball, someone from the Illini needs to help. We can’t have Kofi get into foul trouble. If we keep Kofi on the floor, then we keep the rebounding battle all square.