3. Glass domination without our top big man
Illinois has been a great rebounding team this season. We have been consistently outrebounding our opponent, and this has helped the program to a solid record.
One of the main reasons for the great rebounding numbers is Tomislav Ivisic. He is our 7-foot-1 big man who is a solid rebounder and can do wonders in the paint. Ivisic had to miss the Northwestern game, marking the second game in a row he has had to sit out.
The last time Illinois played Northwestern, we only won the rebounding margin by +1. That was an overtime loss. Illinois was also fully healthy with Ivisic manning the paint.
You would assume that Illinois could struggle in the rebounding department with Ivisic out for the second game against the Wildcats. If we only won the rebounding battle by one rebound the first time around with Ivisic, the second time around could be rough.
That wasn’t the case, though. Illinois came out aggressively on the glass, and we dominated Northwestern. Illinois managed to pull down 50 rebounds without Ivisic. That is the sixth-most rebounds this season for the team.
What was even more impressive for the Illini was the fact Northwestern only pulled down 27 rebounds. That is a rebounding margin of +23 for the Orange and Blue, which is the fifth-highest rebounding margin of the season.
It was honestly a team effort when it came to rebounding the basketball. Morez Johnson Jr. held his own in the paint replacing Ivisic. He finished with nine rebounds. Kasparas Jakucionis led Illinois with 10 rebounds. The Illini had a total of eight players get minutes, and all eight players had at least three rebounds. That type of rebounding effort will win us a lot of games the rest of the way out.