Illinois Basketball: 5 big questions for the Illini against Michigan State

4. How does the Illinois defense look in the first 10 minutes?

If you look at the entirety of the Purdue game, the Illini played pretty well. While the game ended up only being a five-point margin, the way we started the contest put us in too big of a hole.

Before the 15-minute mark in the first half, Illinois was already down by 10 points. With 10:18 to go in the first half, that deficit grew to 14 points. This type of hole that early on is a killer to most teams.

How does the Illinois defense look in the first 10 minutes of the game against the Spartans? Can we avoid another rough start?

How does Illinois avoid this bad start against Michigan State? I think a lot of the bad start has to do with rebounding the basketball. In the loss to Purdue, the Illini allowed the Boilermakers to pull down eight offensive rebounds in the first eight minutes of the game. That is unacceptable. Allowing that many second-chance points is a great way to get into a hole quickly.

I also think playing tougher three-point defense will help a lot. Purdue was 3-of-4 from three-point range in the first 10 minutes. We can’t allow that against Michigan State or Illinois will get into another hole we have to climb out of throughout the game.