Illinois Basketball Brings Winning Streak to Evanston

Winners of two games in a row since losing to Maryland at home, the Illinois Basketball team looks to make it three in a row at Northwestern. It will be their first road game since the return of Terrence Shannon Jr. The Illini beat the Wildcats by 30 in Champaign earlier this year.

1. Clean Fight

Last year one of the many low points of a roller coaster season was a double-digit loss in Welsh Ryan Arena. In that game, the Illini turned it over 15 times. They couldn’t stop fouling either and gave up 40 free-throw attempts. This year the Illini are in the top 25 in Free Throws Allowed in the country. Northwestern has done well in the past few seasons to get themselves out of the Big Ten cellar, but Illinois basketball should not be losing home or away to the Wildcats. The Illini are more talented, and the better team. The only way they can give this away is by getting sucked into the crowd. Considering Shannon Jr.’s situation, it will likely be a testy environment. If Illinois can play above the crowd and the officials, they can secure another good win.

2. Cat Hunt

In their 30-point drubbing, Illinois basketball hunted out mismatches for their big guards, pulling the Wildcats centers out of the paint with Coleman Hawkins. Boo Buie got in foul trouble, and the other Northwestern guards struggled to hold their own defensively. The Wildcats will likely want to keep the pace down in this game. Thus, the Illini need to execute in the halfcourt and find those mismatches. Shannon Jr. didn’t play, but he can also do some mismatch hunting, as well as capitalize on the double teams Chris Collins will send at Marcus Domask.

3. Squeeze Tight

While the crowd will be loud for Northwestern, there will likely also be a large number of Illini fans in the building as well due to the ease of access for Chicago alums. When the Illini go on runs, they need to finish the Wildcats off. This team is very dangerous at home. They have shown the ability to hang around and steal games against even the top of the conference. Illinois basketball needs to make their lives as easy as possible, and not lose focus and let Northwestern hang around.