This season seems to be cursed, as we can’t get a fully healthy Illinois basketball team on the court.
I don’t think I have ever seen this unhealthy of an Illini squad in my lifetime. We can’t seem to get on the court all at the same time, but when we do, the team looks good.
I believe the last time Illinois had a fully healthy unit on the floor was against Indiana, and we beat them by 25 points and had their fans chanting to fire their head coach.
Heading into the game against Minnesota on Saturday, Illinois still isn’t healthy. It looks like Tre White will be back in action after missing the game against Rutgers with illness. But when one man returns, another drops.
Brad Underwood said that Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is out right now with the flu. He likely won’t play against the Golden Gophers. He isn’t the only one dealing with issues.
Against Rutgers, Tomislav Ivisic went out with an ankle injury after coming down awkwardly. Underwood reports that Ivicic’s ankle is still swollen, and his status is up in the air.
Illinois basketball is going to need to lean on the rising Will Riley to overcome health issues
Missing both Gibbs-Lawhorn and Ivisic would be brutal. Gibbs-Lawhorn is having a great season, averaging 8.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He has hit double-digit points in five out of the last eight games as well.
Illinois’ paint play will struggle without Ivisic too. He is averaging 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. Just think about that for a second. Illinois is missing 20.8 points and 10.5 rebounds heading into the Minnesota game.
What does this mean? For me, it means that the Will Riley show will need to go on the road and play some big-time basketball.
Riley has upped his numbers to 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He has led Illinois in scoring in the last two contests and has dropped at least 16 points in the last three games.
The confidence Riley has played with in the past couple of weeks has been evident. He is a different player, and that confidence is going to be huge for the Illini. Riley is going to need to be the five-star player we all expected. If he continues to play like he has the last three games, then Illinois has a chance to knock off Minnesota.
Illinois is going to have to continue to battle with multiple players down. This has been a struggle recently, but we are in a must-win situation. Let’s see who steps up and who folds under the pressure.