Illinois basketball had a couple of easier games, but the schedule gets cranked back up on Friday.
The Illini head to Madison Square Garden to take on the No. 5-ranked UConn Huskies. This is going to be a brutal matchup that will be fast-paced and likely high scoring.
Illinois has to come out strong. There are too many good players on the UConn roster for the Illini to start this game sleepy. There are a few big questions that I will need answered throughout the game, too.
Here are the three key questions for the Illinois basketball team vs UConn
1. Can Illinois handle the UConn paint presence?
This is one of the biggest Illinois teams I have seen in recent memory. That Elite 8 run had great size, but we have trees like no other right now.
Brad Underwood has used this size well this season despite some of that size being hurt. But on Friday, Illinois is going to run into a UConn team that has decent size and does great work in the paint.
Can the Illini handle a tough Huskies' paint presence to get the win? I think a huge variable is Tarris Reed Jr.
Reed has been missing for a few games, but if he is back, that makes UConn much scarier. Even without him, they can trot out some nice size in the paint.
Alex Karaban and Jaylin Stewart are both at least 6-foot-7, and Eric Reibe has done a great job filling in for Reed, and he is 7-foot-1. Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic are going to be tasked with stopping any UConn size. I am going to look for the Illini forwards, like David Mirkovic, to be nasty on the glass, too.
2. Will Kylan Boswell be able to handle Solo Ball?
UConn is going to come at Illinois with so much firepower. One of their best players is Solo Ball, though.
Ball has the ability to light up the scoreboard. He hasn’t played his best this season, shooting just 25% from three-point range, but we can’t let him get hot early on.
Illinois needs to play solid defense. I believe Kylan Boswell will be tasked with guarding Ball. Can he hold him to another bad outing?
This season, Ball is averaging 14.2 points per game. He has laid a couple of stinkers the last few games, going just 10-of-31 from the field and 3-of-19 from three-point range.
What is scary is that those bad outings mean he is due for a big game. Boswell is one of the best defenders I have seen in Champaign during the Underwood era. He can lock his man down, and that is going to be a massive key for Illinois on Friday.
3. Does Andrej Stojakovic get some help?
The Illini are 6-1 this season, and we have played a tough schedule. We beat Texas Tech, and the Alabama game was close.
A huge reason for the great start is the play of Andrej Stojakovic. He has looked great this season. In the last game against UT Rio Grande Valley, he was lights out, but he was the only one who played really well.
Can Stojakovic get some help against UConn? He can’t be the only player who is going off, or we could see the same result that we saw back in the Elite 8.
Stojakovic put up 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting against UTRGV. He was incredible. Stojakovic has shown he can shoot from all levels, and he is sneaky athletic.
Illinois’ other four starters weren’t good, though. They combined to go 9-of-27 from the field for just 34 points. That is unacceptable and will get us blown out of the water. Illinois needs some of the other veterans to step up and look good against the Huskies.