It’s that time of year once again in the college basketball world: Conference games are getting started. After a statement win over former No. 13 Tennessee on Saturday, now No. 13 Illinois (7-2) looks to carry that momentum into its first Big Ten game of the season at Ohio State (7-1).
“Big Ten play: It’s upon us,” said Illini head coach Brad Underwood. “One of 20 (games). Obviously an exciting time of year. You get to a little different mentality when league play rolls around.”
Meet the Buckeyes
Ohio State has not yet played a ranked opponent, but it is coming off a road win at Northwestern and should be a solid opponent for Illinois.
“This is a very, very solid basketball team,” Underwood said. “Expect nothing easy, which there never is in league play.”
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The Buckeyes are led by senior guard Bruce Thornton, who is averaging 20.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in a team-high 33.9 minutes per game. Ohio State relies on Thornton heavily, and he has provided nothing but efficient play for the team thus far.
Thornton is shooting a blistering 52.8% from deep on 4.5 attempts per game, but he is not the only sniper that the Buckeyes have. Sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. and junior guard Devin Royal are shooting 37.3% and 44.4% from three, respectively.
“They’re playing very, very fast,” Underwood said. “I mean, you look, they’re one of the most efficient teams in the country … Bruce and Royal are guys that have been around. They know how to score the basketball.”
Defending the three will be a key to the game for the Illini. If they can do that, and their bigs play physical enough to prevent easy buckets at the rim, then the Illini defense should fare well against the Buckeyes.
Offensively, the Illini will have to be versatile and adjust to whatever the Buckeyes throw at them. Especially for Illinois’ younger players, learning how to adapt to different defensive schemes on the fly will be something that they will experience in Columbus, Ohio.
“They’re going to play zone, they play man, they press,” Underwood said. “They do a lot of different things defensively, and you got to handle those changing defenses as well.”
Keep energy high
Physicality and toughness have been the biggest questions for Illinois over the course of the young season. Rebounds and intense defense are exactly what allowed the Illini to pull away from the Volunteers and have a great second half in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday. That same energy will need to continue in league play, and the Illini cannot regress to the lack of fight seen in their previous ranked losses.
“I don’t know why that is, but (Big Ten play is) a little more intense,” Underwood said. “There’s a little more fight, and we’ve got to try to match that as we did on the other night against Tennessee.”
For the many Illini who have not been through a Big Ten schedule yet, especially those who are in their first year of college, Tuesday night will be an eye-opener. So far this season, Illinois has played every game at home or a neutral site where Illini fans have traveled well. They have yet to play in a true road environment where everyone in the arena is gunning for them.
“It’s 15,000 fans against you,” Underwood said. “Everybody’s amped up. Everybody’s trying to play the long game, win a championship. It’s a marathon.”
Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. CDT, as the Illini look to go on the road and start the Big Ten season off with a win in Columbus.
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