Tuesday proved to be pretty brutal for the Illinois basketball program, as news broke about one of our starters.
Brad Underwood came out in the pregame press conference and told us the news that Kylan Boswell would be out until roughly mid-February with a fracture in his hand. That was shocking news from the Illini head coach, but my first reaction wasn’t shock.
Honestly, when I heard the news, the first thought I had was that Illinois could sustain this injury. Sure, it is going to be a hit statistically on paper, but we are equipped to take a blow like this and still stand and fight back.
Illinois is very experienced in the injury department, and being a man or two down. To start the season, this was the case.
Remember those games without Tomislav Ivisic? Illinois had a game when we were missing Andrej Stojakovic. Let’s not forget that Mihailo Petrovic was likely going to be a starter, but he entered the season injured and is just now getting up to speed.
Underwood has built some depth on the roster, too. To be able to take this type of injury, a team has to have depth and talent across the board. That is something I am not too worried about.
Illinois can go eight deep in every game, and that number can grow depending on how much Underwood trusts Brandon Lee. I fully expect Illinois to make up the 31.8 minutes per game that Boswell was logging with a mix of the current starters and everyone on the bench. To me, I liken this injury to senses. When one sense goes away, the others get stronger. That has to be Illinois' mentality for the next month. It gives me great comfort that there is talent waiting in the wings.
What Illinois basketball does in the starting lineup without Kylan Boswell will be interesting
And lastly, I have already mentioned this name a couple of times, but Illinois has Petrovic starting to get his feet underneath him.
Petrovic had those health issues early on, and he never had a chance to practice with the team. Illinois is now bringing him up to speed, and his presence in the last few games has been nice to see.
What I saw against Minnesota was exciting. Petrovic gives Illinois another guard who can handle the ball, and I am sure he will take up a ton of Boswell’s minutes. Does he start? I am not so sure since Keaton Wagler has become our point guard, but look for Petrovic to get double-digit minutes moving forward.
If I had to bet, I would say Underwood doesn’t start Petrovic. Look for Ben Humrichous to potentially get the starting nod. He is my favorite to land the temporary job. With that being said, Petrovic will get a ton of shine, as he is our only other point guard option on the team.