Saturday afternoon at State Farm Center is not only the Big Ten home opener for No. 13 Illinois (8-2, 1-0), but a major Quad 1 opportunity against another highly ranked men’s basketball program: No. 23 Nebraska (10-0, 1-0).
“They have the longest winning streak in basketball, so we’re really excited to play them,” said junior wing Andrej Stojaković. “Very well coached team, and we just gotta be stick to the scouting report and play our game.”
Cornhuskers on a hot streak
Nebraska is not typically thought of as a basketball powerhouse, but it has started this season undefeated and is coming into Champaign with a lot of momentum. The Cornhuskers are fresh off of a 21-point win over the Creighton Bluejays (5-4) on Sunday and a 30-point destruction of the Wisconsin Badgers (7-3, 1-1) on Wednesday. Their offense is prolific, but they also do a good job at stopping their opponents from putting points on the board.
“A team that shoots it from all five spots, runs great offense and deceptively are very, very good defensively,” said Illini head coach Brad Underwood. “Everybody wants to talk about their offense, but they’re defensively very sound, very good. You don’t do what they’ve done to Creighton and to Wisconsin without being very, very solid on that end.”
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Nebraska is led by senior forward Rienk Mast, who is averaging 18 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Mast is also shooting 41.7% from deep, one of four Cornhusker starters who hit the deep ball at a high clip. Junior forward Pryce Sandfort, senior guard Jamarques Lawrence and senior guard Sam Hoiberg all shoot at least 37% from three. Off the bench, that shooting is supplemented by redshirt freshman Braden Frager, who hits the triple in that same range. Nebraska is not afraid to shoot because it works well for them, but if forced to score inside the arc, the team can also be effective.
“They’re a team that takes, you know, half their shots are threes or a little more,” Underwood said. “Yet you can’t forget that they made 71% of their shots from two against Wisconsin. 71%. You’re gonna win a lot of games when you do that.”
The Cornhuskers will get their shots up from three, there’s no question about that. The challenge for the Illini will be making those attempts as tough as possible. Early possession defensive lapses can allow Nebraska to get its threes off quickly, which Underwood is focused on combating.
“They run the ball right at you, and if you’re in a lull, they will shoot a quick three,” Underwood said. “They’re not necessarily just layups in transition where there’s an attack on the front of the rim. There’s a push down or a pitch ahead, and maybe a quick three or maybe a quick skip and a three. So, I am very worried about them in early offense in the first six, seven seconds.”
Illini injury updates
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Underwood offered updates on multiple Illini dealing with injuries. Here are his full comments regarding senior guard Kylan Boswell, redshirt freshman forward Jason Jakstys and redshirt junior guard/forward Ty Rodgers.
Boswell (shoulder injury sustained against Tennessee): “He’s dealing with a little bruise on his shoulder,” Underwood said. “He actually got kind of spun into (freshman forward David Mirkovic), so he’s just kind of fighting through that, which he does.”
Jakstys (concussion sustained in practice ahead of matchup with Tennessee): “Jason will be a game-time (decision),” Underwood said. “He’s doing some light stuff in practice now. He’s just in the concussion protocol, and that’s something (that depends on) basically how he reacts to exercise and what he did the day before.”
Rodgers (recovering from a summer knee surgery): “Just had a discussion yesterday about that, and I think that he’s getting closer to being able to gain enough strength back in the leg,” Underwood said. “He had some atrophy and things that were just repercussions of the surgery, and so they want to get it back to a certain level of strength in terms of the right, left (legs). … He’s doing some light jogging. He’s got a basketball in his hand, shooting some shots and doing some of those things. But just the explosive stuff he hasn’t done yet, but he’s getting much, much closer to that. So, we feel really, really positive about where that’s at and what his progress has been to this point. … I’m not going to speculate on what (Rodgers potentially returning this season) might look like yet. It’s probably way too early.”
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