Illinois basketball is going to be a man down once again on Sunday against Northwestern.
The last few weeks have been quite the roller coaster. The Illini were 12-3 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten with hopes of winning the regular season conference title and more. We have now dropped three out of four games, and the full team can’t get on the court.
As Illinois heads into the Northwestern game on Sunday, it was announced that we would once again not have a full roster for this pivotal contest.
In a press conference on Saturday, Brad Underwood led off with the fact that big man Tomislav Ivisic is dealing with Mono, and he will be out for the game against the Wildcats.
Ivisic is, thankfully, beyond the point of contagiousness, although the timeline for his return is uncertain. Underwood mentioned that Ivisic is feeling better, and the original diagnosis came after the Michigan State game on January 19.
Illinois basketball has to respond strongly on Sunday without one of our best players in Tomislav Ivisic
The news that Ivisic is going to be out against Northwestern was a bit of a gut punch. He is an incredible big man who can do so many of the tangibles and intangibles for this program.
Illinois has to start having a next-man-up mentality, though. We have dealt with so many issues with the roster this season, so we should start getting used to change on the fly.
This should at least be a better matchup for Illinois, unlike Maryland. The Wildcats aren’t going to dominate the paint. That isn’t what killed us in the overtime loss last month. Illinois should be able to do good work in the paint with Morez Johnson Jr. starting at the No. 5 spot.
The Illini have a huge game on Sunday, and we are going to be a man down. Let’s see how this team responds in what is a crucial game for the 2024-25 season.