5 huge questions for the Illinois basketball team against Wisconsin

2. Will there be another 20-20-20 game out of the Illini Big 3?

I think I touched on this a bit earlier in the season, but the Big 3 for the Illinois basketball team has had some issues at times.

Earlier in the year, Coleman Hawkins was injured and missed a few games. Terrence Shannon Jr. still awaits his preliminary hearing on a charge of rape, and he was suspended for six games to start January. And then you have Marcus Domask who has been trucking along the entire year.

With that being said, these three have been huge for Illinois. They are coming off a massive game against Minnesota, so I want to see if they can replicate that type of game against Wisconsin.

I haven’t looked when the last time an Illinois trio had a 20-20-20 game, but it can’t be too often. Three Illinois players - Shannon, Domask, Hawkins - put up at least 20 points against the Golden Gophers on Wednesday night, and this propelled the Orange and Blue to a much-needed win.

The three great Illinois players were a combined 24-of-42, 57.1%, from the field and 7-of-16, 43.8%, from three-point range. They tore apart Minnesota, but that is going to be a difficult feat against the Badgers.

Wisconsin, as I mentioned in the previous slide, slows the ball down. They play more of a halfcourt game, and this will lower the number of possessions and speed of the game. Illinois has to take control of the game and not play the Badgers’ speed.

Just because of the way Wisconsin plays, I doubt we get another 20-20-20 game out of the Illinois Big 3, but as long as we get efficiency, that shouldn’t be a problem. All three can create for others, and we can’t settle for shots. Illinois’ ability to get into the lane opens up the three-point arc. That needs to happen a lot against Wisconsin.