The Illinois basketball team has one of the toughest games of the season on Saturday.
West Lafayette awaits, as the Purdue Boilermakers welcome in the Illini for a matchup of two top 12 programs in the country.
Illinois isn’t at full strength, as Kylan Boswell is out a month with a fracture in the hand. But that isn’t an excuse for the Orange and Blue. We looked good against Maryland, and let’s play the same game on Saturday.
There will be a few questions I will need answered throughout the game against the Boilermakers, though.
Here are three huge questions for the Illinois basketball team vs Purdue
1. Can Andrej Stojakovic get going early?
Without Boswell on the court, I think it is pretty evident that Illinois needs to get off to a good start. We don’t want to have to crawl out of a hole because we don’t have as much firepower without him on the court.
One thing that stood out to me about the win over Maryland was how Illinois started. This solid start had to do with Andrej Stojakovic playing well.
Stojakovic finished the game with 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range. This was his best game as a member of the Orange and Blue, but it all had to do with the way he started the contest.
From the jump, Stojakovic got going. He made two three-pointers within the first three minutes of the game. He was active on the glass, and Stojakovic clearly took a leadership role.
So, in the first five minutes of the game, Stojakovic had eight points, three rebounds, and one assist. If Illinois can get that against Purdue, then we have a good shot to win the game.
2. Should Illinois put Keaton Wagler on Braden Smith?
Illinois is going up against a player in Braden Smith, who is the No. 3 favorite to win the John R. Wooden Award for the best player in college basketball.
Needless to say, it is not an easy task to shut him down. Smith is averaging 14.5 points, 9.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. The scariest part of his game is the fact that he is knocking down three-pointers at a clip of 42.7%.
So, how do you combat that great production? Put a 6-foot-6 guy on him. Keaton Wagler has worked as Illinois’ leading point guard this season, and his 6-foot-6 size has been so beneficial.
Smith is only 6-foot tall. He is a smaller player, and that works in his favor most of the time. But on Saturday, I think Illinois could give him problems if Wagler is on him and sticks with him through most of the game. It will be tough to shoot over Wagler and his half-foot height advantage.
I think Illinois should start Wagler on Smith. But will that happen throughout the game? That is a massive question I will need answered.
3. How will Illinois do against Purdue’s screens
This section kind of goes hand-in-hand with the previous section. Even if Wagler does start on Smith, Purdue is going to run a bunch of screens and rubs to get the matchups they want.
I am curious if Illinois can switch effectively, or more importantly, can they work around the Purdue screeners to keep on their man?
Illinois can’t get lazy on screens. We can’t go around the screener, or Purdue is going to light us up from three-point range. Effective communication is going to be crucial. Letting the guarding player know a screen is coming will help him work through the screen.
There will be times when Illinois can’t work through screens. Can we make the right switches, and can the guarding Illini player keep up? Defense worries me with a couple of players. If Jake Davis gets matched up against someone like Fletcher Loyer, is he going to light us up?
Illinois has a handful on Saturday with Purdue. This is an elite team, so it will be fun to see where we stack up with the best of the best.