Illinois basketball is coming off one of the most lopsided Big Ten wins you will see in your lifetime.
Last week, the Illini had a good run on the West Coast with a pounding of then-No. 9 Oregon and then avoiding the letdown game with a win up in Washington.
That momentum carried over into this week when Illinois took on Penn State this past Wednesday. Brad Underwood had his team ready for the Nittany Lions, and after about five minutes in the first half, the Illini turned on the burners and put this game away.
A 91-52 win in Big Ten play is baffling. You don’t see that often, and the craziest part is, Illinois was missing our best player.
Kasparas Jakucionis was out with an arm injury. This should have made the game closer, but the rest of the Illinois squad rallied and played well as a team. Winning by 39 points without our best player is incredible. Can you imagine what that score would have been like if Jakucionis was healthy?
Illinois is back in action on Saturday against USC. Thankfully, this isn’t a West Coast game, as the Trojans travel to Champaign. The big looming question over this contest is whether or not Jakucionis is going to be back.
Well, Brad Underwood in a press conference on Friday talked about Jakucionis and where he is with the injury.
In the video, at about the 3:38 mark, Underwood classifies Jakucionis as a “game-day decision.” They will see what the star point guard looks like before the game on Saturday to see if he suits up.
It wouldn’t hurt for Kasparas Jakucionis to rest one more game, so the Illinois basketball team can have him healthy in a crucial stretch
Obviously, I would love to see Jakucionis back on the court immediately. He is a great player who helps the Illini win games. This kid is one of the best players I have ever seen come through the program.
We just saw Illinois trounce Penn State without Jakucionis, though. Illinois is now back home and taking on a below-average USC squad.
The Trojans are 9-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten. They have some good talent on the team, but they aren’t very good. Only one of the nine wins for USC has come against a non-mid-major program.
This is a perfect opportunity to let Jakucionis rest one more game. Illinois doesn’t play again until Tuesday night, so that would essentially give the kid four more days of rest to heal up.
Illinois is going to need him in the upcoming road stretch more than we do against USC. After the Trojans, the Illini take on Indiana in Bloomington on Tuesday. The Hoosiers have won nine out of their last 10 games.
The Illini then travel to East Lansing to take on No. 16 Michigan State the following Sunday. The Spartans are 13-2 and have an really good squad this season. Illinois is going to need to be at full strength.
So, while I would love Jakucionis on the court at all times, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him another few days of rest to help him get fully healthy. Illinois has a big stretch of games coming up, and we are going to need this future top-10 NBA Draft pick.