No. 10 Illinois (21-5, 12-3) takes on USC (18-7, 7-7) on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Illinois head coach Brad Underwood addressed the Champaign media via Zoom on Tuesday morning from the City of Angels. Here are four key takeaways from his comments before the first of two Illini games on the West coast.
Alijah Arenas = a problem
USC freshman Alijah Arenas has been on a tear over his last three games, averaging 26 points over that stretch. The son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas missed the first 18 games of the season due to injury, but he has started all six games since making his college debut. Arenas will be at the top of Underwood’s scouting report and defensive game plan.
“He’s just a gifted, gifted player offensively,” Underwood said. “There’s no shot he can’t make. There’s none he won’t take. He’s got great size. He’s got a great handle. Tremendous body control. Offensively he’s got the whole package. (USC head coach Eric Musselman) done a good job of letting him play and and get those opportunities. He’s a willing passer when he needs to be, but scoring the basketball is something he does. It comes pretty natural to him.
Arenas’ ability to get his own shot is very impressive for a freshman, and he can score anywhere on the floor, although he has been streaky from three in his first six games. However, Arenas is not the only offensive threat on this USC team.
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Graduate student guard Chad Baker-Mazara has missed the last two games with a knee sprain and is day-to-day. If he makes his return against Illinois, it gives USC a more experienced offensive threat alongside a young talent in Arenas. Baker-Mazara helped lead Auburn to a Final Four last season, and this year, he’s putting up 18.3 points per game.
“If Chad’s back, you’re talking about a guy that’s got Final Four experience, he’s very old,” Underwood said. “He’s a very, very gifted offensive talent.”
Boswell’s back in full force
After missing seven straight games with a broken hand, senior guard Kylan Boswell made his return against Indiana on Sunday. Boswell was wearing a large padded support on his hand, but it sounds as if he feels just fine after playing 32 minutes and jumping right back into his starting role.
“If he’s had (issues), he hasn’t said anything,” Underwood said. “I think the one thing that our staff’s done a great job of is making sure the conditioning piece was never going to fail. I mean, he was pushed very hard in that area from the running side of things … He said it felt great and from that side of things and hasn’t said there’s any discomfort anywhere. So, all systems go.”
Having Boswell back was huge for Illinois, as he immediately made an impact with his tough-nosed style of play. His defensive grit, knack for grabbing offensive boards and just overall leadership are all things that will help Illinois greatly as it searches to close out the season on a high note and get the best possible seeding outcome for the NCAA tournament. Even though Boswell is good to play, the splint and protection on his hand will likely stay in place for a while to keep his hand protected.
“I think right now it’s just a preserve and make sure it doesn’t hit,” Underwood said. “I haven’t had those discussions with (athletic trainer Justin Games) or a doctor yet, but I’m sure at some point obviously he’ll be able to get that off. I just don’t know what that is and it’s probably not anytime soon.”
Stojaković, a gametime decision
Junior wing Andrej Stojaković, who has missed the past two games with a high ankle sprain, made the trip to California and will be a gametime decision against USC.
“He did some stuff in practice (Monday), so he’s making some progress, and we’ll leave that as a game time decision,” Underwood said. “Again, everything as you guys know with a lot of injuries is about the recovery and how they how they respond to that. So, he’s with us and excited about that, and we’ll see what that holds for (Wednesday) night.”
Underwood had said after Illinois’ win over Indiana that he would be open to keeping Stojaković in Champaign during the Los Angeles trip if it would be more beneficial for him to focus on rehabbing. However, since Stojaković ended up traveling, it seems that the coaching staff thinks its likely he will play at some point in California. If not against USC, then potentially on Saturday against UCLA.
Staying focused during a week out West
With Illinois spending a week in Los Angeles and having multiple days between games, Underwood and his staff will do their best to keep the team from being stagnant. They are student-athletes, and that does not stop when the Illini are on the other side of the country. There will be a well-rounded schedule in place.
“We’ve got an academic component built in every single day here,” Underwood said. “So, you know, we go to practice here this morning at 10:00 and this afternoon will be some academic stuff. It’s (strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher) making sure he’s doing his stuff in the weight room with weights and stretching and all of that. So we keep them pretty busy. We don’t want them laying around in a hotel. That’s the worst thing we can do.”
With just two games this week and a much more open schedule after 11 games in about 33 days, Underwood wants the Illini to focus on themselves. It’s a chance to slow down and focus, not only on the next game, but finding little ways to get better with extra practice time.
“You do look and you find opportunities through practice to get ourselves better, to maybe add a wrinkle or two to create what I like to call ‘us days,’” Underwood said. “You know, days that are a little more specific to us than an opponent. And those things happen when games slow down a little bit. So, yeah, we’re always looking long-term, but never too much in terms of what opponents do or don’t do.”
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