5 big questions for the Illinois basketball team against Northwestern

4. Is there an encore performance from Marcus Domask?

When Illinois landed a transfer from Southern Illinois, I didn’t expect the player to make a huge impact. The kid’s name was Marcus Domask, and I was figuring he would come off the bench and give Illinois 10-15 minutes per game.

Illinois fans didn’t get to see Domask during the Spain trip in the summer either. He was dealing with an injury, so I didn’t know what to expect. Well, over the past couple of months, Domask has completely won me over with his play. He has had some big games, which included the first Northwestern contest.

So, I want to see if there is an encore performance from Domask on Wednesday night. Can Domask put up another massive game and lead us to a victory over the Wildcats?

Domask saved one of his best games of the season for the first Northwestern matchup. He ended the game with 32 points, six assists, five rebounds, and one block. He also shot 11-of-15 from the floor and hit his only three-point attempt of the game.

One of Domask’s specialties is the ability to back his man down in the paint and score. In nearly every game I watch, Domask has flipped the ball up on a wild shot and it somehow goes in the hoop. When he gets aggressive like this, it also enables him to get to the free throw line. Domask was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in that first game as well.

Northwestern couldn’t handle Domask’s size at 6-foot-6. He is someone who is hard to stop. I would love an encore performance from Domask, and it would be even more impressive now that Terrence Shannon Jr. is back in the fold. Let’s see what Domask has in store this time around.