Game Day Essentials: Game #21 vs #18 Illinois

Illinois Info

Head Coach: Brad Underwood (7th season)

Location: Champaign, IL 
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Fightin' Illini

Mascot: Chief Illiniwek They got rid of Chief Illiniwek in 2007

Line: Illinois by 3.5

Typical Rotation Depth: 8

KenPom rank: 11

Nota bene:  

• Starting center Tomislav Ivisic is out with mono
• Illinois is one of the lengthiest teams in D-1, ranking 10th in KenPom's height stat
• The Illini are ranked despite turning over the roster (345th in KenPom minutes continuity) and having a young roster (294th in D-1 experience)
• Illinois is 3pt centeric, ranking 21st in 3pa/fga offensively while ranking 5th in defensive 3pa/fga
• Nebraska is looking for their 3rd win over a ranked team in one season since 2013-14 
• Fred Hoiberg is 0-8 vs Illinois at Nebraska
• Last game Brice Williams scored enough points for him and his father to become the 7th father-son duo to combine for over 4000 points combine at the D-1 level.

Player to watch: Kasparas Jakucionis

The Lithuanian freshman has exceeded all expectations and is listed as a lottery pick on multiple mock draft sites. KJ leads the team in scoring and assists as well as 3pt percentage at 37.5% As one of the primary ball handlers can be turnover prone.

Player to watch: Morez Johnson

With starting center Tomislav Ivisic out with illness, Johnson is the man in the post and he's been impressive, going for 15 and 9 in his last game. Offensively he's the only traditional type center who plays so he's the only Illini who is not a threat to pop a 3. He's a high contact player so there is a chance he gets a Husker in foul trouble while also getting himself in foul trouble.

Player to watch: Ben Humrichous

The Evansville stretch 4 might be a matchup problem for the Huskers when Johnson is off the court as he's basically a 6'9" 3pt specialist and there will not be anyone in the post to guard if he's their 5 man.

Illinois's Roster

Roster/infirmary report

Possible starters for Nebraska

3    Guard    Brice Williams     6-7    214 lbs    Senior

1    Guard    Sam Hoiberg     6-0    185 lbs    Junior

4    Forward    Juwan Gary     6-6    226 lbs    Senior

23    Forward    Andrew Morgan     6-10    242 lbs    Senior 

24    Guard    Rollie Worster     6-5    210 lbs    Senior

Bench

34    Center    Braxton Meah     7-1    264 lbs    Senior

0    Guard    Connor Essegian     6-4    190 lbs    Junior

2    Guard    Ahron Ulis     6-3    190 lbs    Senior

9    Forward    Berke Büyüktuncel     6-10    244 lbs   

31    Guard    Cale Jacobsen     6-4    195 lbs    Sophomore

12    Guard    Gavin Griffiths     6-7    193 lbs    Sophomore

5    Forward    Braden Frager     6-7    220 lbs    Freshman
8    Guard    Jeffrey Grace III     6-3    200 lbs    Junior
20    Forward    Justin Bolis     6-8    225 lbs    Sophomore
25    Guard    Nick Janowski     6-4    208 lbs    Freshman

35    Forward    Henry Burt     6-7    222 lbs    Sophomore

Out for year
51    Forward    Rienk Mast     6-10    260 lbs    Senior

Fred Hoiberg Presser

We have lost our identity. Yikes!

We are airing our grievances. Yikes!

The Skinny: 

Brad Underwood teams when on a roll show no quarter. This season they have beaten Oregon on the road by 32 and Indiana on the road by 25. They whopped Penn St by 39 at home.  If they're making 3s, looking out. The Huskers will need all the juice they can muster defensively if they want to put an end to this 6 game January skid.

Defensively, the only thing Illinois doesn't do is turn you over as they spend most of their time running you off the 3pt line into shot blockers. They generally do so without fouling so Nebraska will need to earn points in the paint. Offensively, they take 3s and gain extra possessions by crashing the boards and/or securing ricochets from said 3s. While Johnson is your main threat to rebound, this lengthy team isn't a one man show. 

Can Nebraska slow down Illinois enough to keep the Huskers in this game? 

Prediction: Illinois 82 - Nebraska 72