Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Penn State

4. The bench let us down

Over the past couple of games, I was enjoying seeing the Illinois bench playing well. Some of our talented players were really emerging as solid rotation guys or potential starters.

But things kind of went off the rails against Penn State. The Illinois bench wasn’t the same as the previous few games. They played some of the worst basketball I have seen in weeks, and that worries me heading into the postseason.

The best player off the bench for the Illini was probably Coleman Hawkins. His shooting wasn’t there, as he went 1-of-6 from the field, but he hustles. He got a big rebound at the end of the game, and he is a matchup nightmare for opposing teams.

Andre Curbelo had a disappointing game against Penn State. He would finish the game going 1-of-5 from the field and had three turnovers in 17 minutes. I need to see more out of him.

Illinois’ bench combined going 3-of-14 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range. They had 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three turnovers as well.

If we want to win games in March, whether that be the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA tournament, then we are going to need more production from the bench. They were bad against Penn State. Let’s correct this and move forward. I know we have good players in the reserves.