Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Chattanooga

Illinois basketball starts the journey to the national title on Friday, as we take on the Chattanooga Mocs in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Mocs have a good team, but the Illini have more talent. We have good guard play and a big man that not many teams can match. If Illinois can play a B or better game, then we should be able to come away with the victory. But there are a few questions I will need answered throughout the game.

Here are four big questions for the Illinois basketball team against Chattanooga.

1. Will our guards show up to play?

The last time we saw the Illinois basketball team take the court, they looked bad against the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Tournament.

It was an ugly game against the Hoosiers, and the Illini were knocked out of the conference tournament. There were so many things that went wrong in that game. One of those things was how the starting guards played for the Illini.

The starting trio of Alfonso Plummer, Trent Frazier, and Da’Monte Williams played a combined 92 minutes against Indiana and only managed to go 6-of-22 from the field and 4-of-13 from three-point range. They would finish the game with 17 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, and four turnovers.

Illinois needed more production out of these three against Indiana. So, one of my biggest questions for the Illini against Chattanooga is will our guards show up to play?

The stat line I mentioned above would be good for one player, but we can’t have three starters combined for those numbers. That is a recipe for disaster.

I need to see Plummer be able to hit his three-point shots. He was awful from mid-range as well. Williams isn’t even taking shots, so naturally, he is an offensive liability. I would like to see Frazier hit more than 40% from the field as well. All three players need to be better against the Mocs or we could go home early.