Illinois Basketball: 3 things to watch for in the Illini against the Ohio State Buckeyes

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Coleman Hawkins #33 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Luke Goode #10 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center on February 11, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Coleman Hawkins #33 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Luke Goode #10 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center on February 11, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
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Illinois basketball
Feb 23, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard chase Audige (1) and teammate Matthew Nicholson (34 pressure Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0)) during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois basketball has a big game on Sunday against an Ohio State team that is playing some of the worst basketball in the country.

The Illini are currently tied for the No. 4 spot in the Big Ten, but we are losing the tiebreaker, so we are on the outside looking in right now. The victory over Northwestern a few days ago went a lot way in our quest. Now we need to keep winning.

Here are three things to watch for in the Illinois basketball against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

1. Can Terrence Shannon Jr. give us a consistent game

There have been some pretty spectacular moments for Terrence Shannon Jr. this season. He has put the Illinois basketball team on his back on multiple occasions.

In this past game against Northwestern, Shannon did it again. He would go for 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range. His production enabled Illinois to knock off one of the hottest teams in the country and a ranked Wildcats bunch.

On Sunday, I am going to see if Shannon can give Illinois a consistent game throughout. While his 26 points were amazing against Northwestern, most of them came in the second half.

In the first half against Northwestern, Shannon would only have two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field. He might have still been getting back in the groove of things after missing a couple of games, but Shannon was nonexistent in that first half. That is why Illinois was down by 18 points.

Shannon would score 24 of his 26 points in the second half. It was fun to watch, and having a big comeback victory is always exciting, but I don’t want to get into that big of a hole. I would like for Shannon to have a nice consistent game. We need that out of him against Ohio State.