5 huge questions for the Illinois basketball team against Ohio State

3. Can Illinois defend Jamison Battle any better?

There is always one random player who has great success against Illinois. Usually, we run into this against a team like Penn State. But this time around, Ohio State has one of those players.

The Buckeyes have a really good player in Jamison Battle. He has been the Buckeyes’ best player this season and has been the driving force behind Ohio State winning five out of the last six games.

So, can Illinois’ defense show up on Friday afternoon? Can the Illini defend against the talent of Battle on the basketball court?

Over the last six games, Battle has taken his game to another level. He is averaging 18.8 points per game, which includes going 18-of-37, 48.6%, from three-point range. Illinois isn’t good at three-point defense, so that scares me a bit heading into the game on Friday.

While Battle has never beaten Illinois in his long college career, he has averaged 17.5 points per game in the four contests he has matched up against us. This includes dropping 21 points and 31 points in his last two games against Illinois, respectively.

A way to beat the Illini is to have a player get hot. We have ran into this in the past, and that is a great way to make a run in the NCAA tournament. Illinois is about to run into the hottest team in the Big Ten on Friday afternoon. Let’s hope we can contain Battle.