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Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini vs Michigan State

By Rees Woodcock

PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half of a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena on February 16, 2022 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 70-59. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half of a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena on February 16, 2022 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 70-59. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Illinois basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 16: Trent Frazier #1 of the Illinois Fighting Illini in action against Ron Harper Jr. #24 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during a game at Jersey Mike’s Arena on February 16, 2022 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 70-59. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Illinois basketball has a huge tilt on Saturday as Michigan State looks to exact revenge from their loss less than a month ago.

In the first game between the two Big Ten giants, the Illini defense came through and won us the game 56-55. It was an ugly performance by both teams, but a win is a win.

Since that matchup, both teams have kind of been struggling as well. Illinois has dropped two of their past three games. Meanwhile, Michigan State says, “hold my beer” as they have dropped three out of their past four games.

Heading into this big matchup, I have a few questions I look forward to getting answered.

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

1. Will the Illinois offense show up?

The Illini have been winning games, but for the past month, things have been pretty bleak as far as the offense is concerned.

Out of the past nine games, Illinois has failed to hit 70 points in regulation in six of those contests. We failed to hit 60 points in three of those six games as well.

The offense just hasn’t been clicking. Obviously, to score the basketball, shots have to be falling. Shots have not been falling for the Illini, though.

Dating back to the double-overtime loss to Purdue, Illini starting guard Jacob Grandison has only hit double-digit points in two games. In the other seven games he has played, he has scored eight or fewer points in those contests. He is hitting an atrocious 33.8% from the floor during that stretch as well.

In the last game against Michigan State, despite winning the game, the starting guards for the Illini didn’t play well. The four starting guards – Grandison, Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, Alfonso Plummer – were a combined 12-of-38 from the field, which comes out to 31.6%. They only hit 6-of-25 from three-point range as well, which is 24%.

So, in the second go-around with the Spartans, I am going to be watching to see if Illinois’ offense can show up. We can’t continue to rely on our defense to win games. The fact we only scored 56 points in the first game and won is nothing short of a miracle. Can the Illini offense show up? That is a big question I have on Saturday.

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