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Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini vs Rutgers

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 3, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) reacts after making a dunk during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2021; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) reacts after making a dunk during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Illinois basketball
CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 06: Jacob Grandison #3 of the Illinois Fighting Illini shoots the ball during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at State Farm Center on January 6, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Illinois basketball is playing a huge game on Wednesday night against a good Rutgers program.

I didn’t think I would be saying this, but the Illini have a tough matchup against the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has played their way into NCAA tournament contention, and they are probably looking to exact revenge after Illinois pummeled them by 35 points in the first game this season.

Heading into the matchup on Wednesday night, I am going to be watching for a few things. There are some big questions I have for the Orange and Blue.

Here are four big questions for the Illinois basketball team vs Rutgers.

1. Will Underwood bring Grandison off the bench?

We have been winning, but the Illinois basketball program hasn’t exactly played crisp basketball as of late.

One of the reasons Illinois hasn’t played their best basketball is the fact some of their experienced talent has hit a rough patch. Jacob Grandison falls into this category. He has had a pretty rough stretch of games with the pinnacle of his struggles coming this past Sunday when he finished the Northwestern win with two points on 0-of-7 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range.

Grandison’s struggles have been a month-long thing as well. He has only hit double-digit points in two of his last nine games and has been below eight points in his last three contests.

In my opinion, the struggles that Grandison is going through could be fixed with change. I want him to still get minutes, but maybe a shake-up of the lineup would help the kid. One of the big questions I have for the Rutgers game is will Brad Underwood have the strength to send Grandison to the bench for at least a couple of games?

The bench sounds like a bad thing, but in Grandison’s case, it is not a bad thing. He has actually had some of his better games this season off the bench.

In the first Rutgers game this season, Illinois won by 35 points with Grandison dropping 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field off the bench. Illinois snuck past Iowa in the following game. Grandison led the way for the Illini with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field. He came off the bench in that game too.

Let’s see if Underwood has the guts to send Grandison back to the bench. It helps the team and it helps Grandison not feel the pressure of being a starter. Let’s have him be a spark plug for this program.

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