Coming off a big win over Maryland, the Illinois basketball team has a chance to put up a big number on Wednesday night.
The Illini head to Happy Valley to take on a wounded Penn State team. The Nittany Lions will be without their best player, as Kanye Clary was dismissed from the team just days ago. This should open the floodgates for Illinois to steamroll Penn State.
But this is the Big Ten. No road game is as simple as it looks. Illinois still has to come out fighting and play smart basketball. There will be a few things I am going to be watching for as well.
Here are five huge questions for the Illinois basketball team against Penn State
1. Can Illinois continue getting to the free throw line?
Just a couple of years ago, the free throw line was not Illinois’ friend. It was an evil place that bit us in the butt one too many times.
Over the past couple of seasons, that narrative has changed. The Illini have been getting to the free throw line, and now this is a place that we can actually use to get points.
So, I want to see if Illinois will continue to utilize the charity stripe. Can the Illini continue getting to the free throw line against Penn State?
Illinois was the most aggressive I have seen the program this past Saturday against Maryland. We were able to get to the free throw line for a season-high 36 attempts. That used to mean a lot of misses, but the Illini made 32-of-36, 88.9%, for the game.
For the season, the Illini average 22.3 free throw attempts per game, which ranks No. 46 in the country. Normally, we would be sub-200 when it comes to converting those free throws, but Illinois is hitting 74.2% from the charity stripe this season. That is good enough to rank No. 85 in the nation.
The free throw line has been our friend in 2023-24. Just last season, we shot 67.9%, which ranked No. 309 in the country. Getting to the free throw line against Penn State should put this game away early.