Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Ohio State

3. Can Grandison put back-to-back games together?

Illinois can’t put all of their eggs in the Kofi Cockburn basket. That usually results in the big man getting triple-teamed and struggling. We need one or two other players to come through in the scoring department.

In the last game against Michigan State, Illinois received that scoring help from an unlikely source. Jacob Grandison was able to torch the Spartans for 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point range.

The reason I say this is an unlikely source is that Grandison had been struggling lately. He hasn’t been a reliable source of scoring for quite some time.

Grandison’s 24 points were the first time he scored 20 or more points since December 6 when Illinois took down Iowa. His six three-pointers made was the most this season as well.

In the four games leading up to the Michigan State win, Grandison had averaged just five points per game with the highest-scoring game resulting in seven points. He was just 7-of-26 from the field in this four-game stretch as well. That means Grandison made more shots against Michigan State than he did in the previous four games.

A big question I have for Thursday night is whether or not Grandison can put back-to-back games together? Since the turn of the calendar year, each time Grandison has put up a double-digit scoring game, he has laid an egg the next game.

If Illinois can get another good game from Grandison, we should be able to come away with a win over Ohio State.