5 big questions for the Illinois basketball team against Ohio State

5. Will the Illinois bench continue its tear?

When something funky is going on with the starting lineup, it is important that Illinois has players in the bullpen who can come in and help the team get to the finish line.

Brad Underwood has done a great job stacking these players on the Illinois roster. The Illini have great players waiting in the wings to come in and put up big points. They have been doing that as of late as well.

So, I want to see if we can continue this great play from our reserves. Will the Illinois bench continue the tear they have been on lately?

I was extremely impressed with the Illini bench against Indiana. I would argue they are the reason we ended up winning the game. The Illinois bench finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal. They hit some big shots throughout the game and down the stretch.

This hasn’t been the only game the bench has come through for Illinois. In the close loss to Northwestern, the Illini bench dropped 14 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. The game before that, the blowout win over Rutgers, Illinois’ bench put up 40 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block.

It is clear that the Illinois bench has come through in a big way. They are a big part of this team, and they need to continue being crucial as we move forward. Let’s see if we can get big production out of Luke Goode and Company against the Buckeyes.