Wednesday Night Big Ten Preview: #10 Illinois at Northwestern
In Evanston, Illinois tonight there will be two teams going head-to-head, in a strong Big Ten conference matchup. The Fighting Illini of Illinois will travel the state to Welsh-Ryan Arena to take on the Wildcats of Northwestern. In a highly anticipated matchup, Illinois comes into this one today 14-4 overall, while being 5-2 in conference play sitting behind powerhouses Purdue and Wisconsin in conference play. A somewhat identical record for the Wildcats at 13-5, sees them sitting right behind 3rd place Illinois, being at 4-3 in conference play. As we all know, the main thing that takes control in Big Ten games year after year is the sense of home court. We have seen countless upsets in conference play over the years due to the hostile home crowd getting energized when ranked opponents head on the road.
The story inside tonight’s game? How can 2022-2023 Big Ten coach of the year, Chris Collins, and the Wildcats take that home energy to try and cause a ruckus in conference play, getting the a top ten win they deserve. A tall task will come to play with Brad Underwood seeking his third straight win for the Fighting Illini. For Illinois, they do get see star Terrance Shannon Jr. in just his second game back of suspension due to rape allegations. The question remains the same, will Brad Underwood start impactful Shannon Jr. tonight? On the other hand, will he come off the bench like Underwood previously did in a home thrashing this past Sunday against Rutgers, 86-63. Terrance Shannon Jr. checked into that one roughly three minutes in, to an interesting standing ovation from the home crowd in Champaign, Illinois. He later went on to record 16 points and four assists in 28 minutes played at the State Farm Center.
The X-factor for tonight’s game for the Wildcats would be how star graduate student guard Boo Buie can match up against the Illini. Buie, who really made strides last year in the Big Ten tournament, possesses the hard-nosed mentality that Chris Collins wants out of his team. With being an experienced player amongst some of his teammates, Buie really tries to take over games with his mid-range game as well as drives to the bucket. The Wildcats will have to rely on the three ball for a good portion of the game, while trying to stop Coleman Hawkins, senior for the Illini who is on the watchlist for Karl Malone Power Forward of the year. With Northwestern coming out with a guard-heavy lineup, it will be interesting to see how the likes of Matthew Nicholson, Luke Hunger, and Nick Martinelli size up against Coleman Hawkins and the Illinois front court.
Coming off a close loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the road this past Saturday, the Wildcats will look ahead to tonight’s matchup in a borderline “got to have it” game for Chris Collins and company. When trying to receive a potential at-large bid in March, home opportunities when a ranked opponent is on the road really stand out to the committee. In their last outing January 2nd when these two teams visited, it was Illinois at the State Farm Center making a strong statement. In a game where we saw Illinois guard Marcus Domask go for 32 points, five rebounds, and six assists, Northwestern got run off the court in an embarrassing blowout, 96-66. Due to his recent suspension, star guard Terrance Shannon Jr. was unavailable for this particular contest. It will be interesting to see the minutes he gets tonight under Coach Underwood, as well as the impact he brings to the court. Big Ten Network will have this tonight at 9:00pm EST, in what is forming to be a jam packed house in Evanston, Illinois.
