Basketball
Mihailo Petrovic to miss Illini home game vs Florida Gulf Coast
The Illini will be without Petrovic for yet another game
Mihailo Petrovic will miss the second Illinois basketball game of the season on Friday, November 7th. The Illini will host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at the State Farm Center, but will notably miss Petrovic for the second straight game. Petrovic has been dealing with a nagging hamstring ever since arriving on campus and has been very limited in action. He did play some spot minutes vs Florida in closed door exhibition, but was obviously hampered. Illinois won its season opener on November 3rd vs Jackson State extremely comfortably, despite missing Petrovic and three other key players.
Underwood stated that Petrovic is still going through the recovery process and does not have a return date. With that news, it sounds like Mihailo Petrovic will also miss November 11th’s marquee matchup at the State Farm Center vs Texas Tech. In other news, wing Andrej Stojakovic is a “game-time decision” for Friday’s home game.
What Petrovic’s absence means
Petrovic was gaining buzz as a major addition for the Illini during the offseason. However, he has yet to see the floor and may not see it for quite some time. With the way Underwood described Petrovic’s current situation, I expect Mihailo Petrovic to miss both games next week vs Texas Tech and Colgate. The game after that time stretch is a neutral site game at the United center vs Alabama. As long as Petrovic is out, expect freshman Keaton Wagler and Junior Jake Davis to carry a heavy load of minutes.
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