5 keys for Illinois basketball to beat the Tennessee Volunteers

4. Need Morez Johnson Jr. to help combat size

There aren’t a lot of teams that can trot out a big lineup. Illinois has one of the biggest lineups I have seen on the court, and it is only second to the lineup we put out last season.

Tennessee is going to put out an impressively big starting five, though. The Vols have the size to cause some chaos, and at worst, they can compete with Illinois in the rebounding department.

Igor Milicic Jr. is the biggest threat in the paint. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound monster from Croatia is averaging 12.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. He has a little Tomislav Ivisic flavor to him too, as he takes and can hit from three-point range.

Tennessee also throws Felix Okpara out there, who averages 6.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He is much less polished offensively than Milicic, but he can still pull down the rebounds. Okpara checks in a 6-foot-11.

With those two big men starting for the Vols, I think it would be good to combat their size with a little more playing time for Morez Johnson Jr. When it comes to paint presence and aggression, Johnson has been the toughest player in the paint for the Illini.

Johnson loves to bang around in the paint. While this can cause him to get some quick fouls, as he averages 2.0 fouls in 13.6 minutes per game, it also deters the opposing team from getting to the hoop.

In addition to Johnson’s physicality helping defensively, it also helps him on the boards. He averages 6.7 rebounds in the 13.6 minutes per game as well.

Illinois leads the country with 46.6 rebounds per game. We have someone in Johnson who doesn’t even log 14 minutes each game but is still second on the team in rebounds. Let’s get this kid more minutes and really hold our own in the paint against the Vols.