4. Is Illinois’ bench going to help?
Illinois is coming off a huge win over Michigan State. During this win, two players were the driving factors behind scoring.
Kofi Cockburn put up 27 points in a big night. He is the horse for the Illini program right now. As mentioned in the previous slide, Illinois also got a ton of help from Jacob Grandison. He had his best game of the season with 24 points.
With these two scoring a combined 51 points, Illinois was able to come away with the win over the Spartans. But it would have been a lot easier of a victory if the Illini bench could have played better.
Illinois’ bench was only effective in the rebounding department against Michigan State. I will give them credit for the 11 rebounds from the reserves. I need to see more in the way of scoring, though.
The leader for the Illini off the bench in the last game was Andre Curbelo. He only scored three points in the entire game. The Illinois bench went a combined 2-of-11 from the field for six points. That is not how you win games.
While we did come away with the win over Michigan State, it would have been a lot easier if the bench played well. So, a big question for Thursday night will be can the bench help the Illini beat Ohio State?
I am going to be watching to see if there is a star off the bench. We need someone who can come in and give the Illini solid minutes. It didn’t happen last game. We are going to need it against the Buckeyes, though.