When No. 6 Illinois faces No. 24 Indiana this weekend in Bloomington, Ind., the two teams will be very familiar with each other.

Not surprisingly, the Illini roster features 24 players hailing from the Land of Lincoln. The Hoosiers, however, also boast 15 players from Illinois, many of whom are from the Chicago area.

With the players being already acquainted, head coach Nick Fabbrini said the overlap makes for a dangerous matchup for the Illini (12-7-2).

“With them having so many players from Chicago, this is one of their biggest games on the schedule,” Fabbrini said. “I know they’re going to be a tough team.”

Indiana (9-8-1) is coming off of a split weekend at DePaul but has been inconsistent all year. The Hoosiers earned quality wins on consecutive November weekends with splits against No. 13 Iowa State and No. 4 Ohio but were swept by No. 3 Robert Morris on Nov. 16-17.

Illinois has matched Indiana’s inconsistency, as the Illini haven’t won a Saturday game since Oct. 20. In a stretch of six losses in nine games, the Illini are hoping to get back on track before holiday break in two weeks.

“We definitely go in expecting to sweep,” defenseman JT Turner said. “We do every weekend. Any lower expectation is not preparing yourself properly for the game mentally.”

The schedule might make a sweep more realistic this week. Friday’s game starts at 8:25 p.m. (Champaign time), while Saturday’s match starts at 1:30 p.m. The quick turnaround for the Illini is welcome, as it limits the time waiting around on the road.

“I think it’ll be a little bit of an advantage for us,” Fabbrini said. “I think getting right back into the rink about 12 hours later will be a good thing for our guys.”

Illinois will be dealing with some injuries and ailments that will shorten the bench this weekend. Center Eddie Quagliata is out until at least Friday’s game with strep throat, and defenseman Ben Burbridge is out for an extended period as he battles post-concussion syndrome. The Illini will also be without defenseman Ricky Kokoszka, who is sidelined with a broken finger after blocking a shot against Oklahoma.

With a few defenders out of the lineup, Illinois will need to rely heavily on new defenseman Chad Himley, along with Turner on the backline.

Turner, an Indianapolis native, will be having a homecoming this weekend with Bloomington being just over an hour away from the state capital.

“I know quite a few (Indiana players),” Turner said. “Two of them I played with on my 18U team for two or three years and a couple other guys, I played with when I was about 10.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.