5 huge questions for the Illinois basketball team against Ohio State

5. What does Illinois get out of Coleman Hawkins?

I touched on Coleman Hawkins in the last slide about how aggressive he has been lately. Hawkins used to jack up three-point shots just for the sake of shooting. He has not only developed his game over the past half-season, but he has developed his basketball IQ as well.

Hawkins affects the game in more ways than one. He isn’t just relied on for scoring, but he can do just about everything on the basketball court. That is what makes him truly special.

I want to see what Hawkins can give Illinois this time around against Ohio State. What do the Illini get out of Hawkins on Friday afternoon?

In the first game against the Buckeyes back on January 30, Hawkins struggled greatly. He finished the game playing 25 minutes and only put up five points, two rebounds, and one block on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor. He was kind of shut down, and this hurt Illinois a bit.

Since that game, Hawkins has been incredible, though. He has played 10 games since putting up five points against Ohio State, and he has eight double-digit scoring nights in those 10 games. He has been extremely efficient from three-point range as well, going 19-of-44, 43.2%, from three-point range.

Illinois needs Hawkins to have a good game on Friday against the Buckeyes. He doesn’t need to score big points, though. In the big win over Iowa, Hawkins had four points, but he also had 10 rebounds, three assists, and one block. An active Hawkins is what we need. When he is active, Illinois tends to succeed.