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Illinois Basketball: 5 big questions for the Illini against Michigan

By Rees Woodcock

Illinois Fighting Illini forward Quincy Guerrier (13) high-five the Illinois bench after drawing a
Illinois Fighting Illini forward Quincy Guerrier (13) high-five the Illinois bench after drawing a / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA
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Illinois basketball has one of the biggest games of the season on Thursday night against Michigan.

The Wolverines aren't a good team, but the Illini are in a must-win situation right now. We have dropped two out of the last three contests, and this is a road game against the bottom of the barrel in the Big Ten.

Michigan isn't a pushover despite their 7-10 record. The Wolverines have good players who can light up the scoreboard. The Illini need to be ready for all Michigan is going to throw at us.

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

1. Can Illinois stick to what works best?

Illinois didn’t look great in the game against Maryland. This loss hurt because the Terrapins aren’t a great team by any means. But the Illini didn’t play our normal style of basketball.

Since becoming a man down, the Illini have come together to form a good team unit. The chemistry has been some of the best I have seen in years.

I want to see if we can get back to that great chemistry. I believe Illinois lost that mojo we had in the few games leading up to the Maryland contest. Can Illinois stick to what works best against Michigan and start playing team basketball again?

It was frustrating to watch against the Terrapins. Illinois players weren’t moving well, as we were just standing around watching the player who had the ball at the time.

Marcus Domask tried to play hero ball too often, and that is why he ended up with five turnovers to go along with his 26 points. The Illini players weren't slashing and trying to get space nearly enough either. That is the key to Ty Rodgers and Quincy Guerrier putting up a lot of points. They only finished with a combined 12 points against Maryland.

Illinois didn’t do what works best against Maryland. We didn’t play team basketball, and it bit us. I want to see more movement and more players involved against Michigan. We need to run circles around them, and I believe we can on Thursday night.

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