Illinois Basketball: 5 big questions for the Illini against Colgate

It has been over a week, but the Illinois basketball team is ready to get back into the swing of things on Sunday afternoon.

The Illini are coming off a pretty solid run. We knocked off the random Big Ten game when we dismantled Rutgers. Illinois then took down a ranked Florida Atlantic team. Despite falling to Tennessee last Saturday, the Illini are still in the top 25. In fact, we moved up four spots to No. 16 in the country.

Next up on the schedule is Colgate. My hope is that Illinois looks fresh in this game and will put Colgate away early. But there are a few questions I have entering the contest.

Here are five big questions for the Illinois basketball team against Colgate

1. Can Marcus Domask show some consistency?

The Florida Atlantic game was pretty special for the Illinois basketball team. We took on a top 15 program and beat them in Madison Square Garden.

Illinois had two players go off in that game. Terrence Shannon Jr. dropped 33 points, one of many games that have impressed fans this season. The other player who had a big game was Marcus Domask.

Domask dropped 33 points against the Owls as well. He was 15-of-21 from the field and 2-of-6 from three-point range. If Illinois could get that type of play, or somewhere near it, the entire season, this program would be unstoppable. That isn’t the case, though.

I want to see if Domask can start showing some consistency with his game. Can he get back on track on Sunday against Colgate?

Domask followed his great performance against Florida Atlantic with a dud of a game against Tennessee. He had six points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range last Saturday.

Earlier in the season, Domask had another good game against Marquette. He finished that game with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. Domask followed that performance with seven points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range against Valparaiso.

Getting consistent play out of Domask is important. He can light up the scoreboard on any given night, but Illinois at least needs quality play out of this senior leader in every game. I am not asking for 30 points per game, I am just asking for consistent solid play.