Going by records and recent results, it’s not hard to conjure a scenario in which No. 13 Illinois doesn’t come fully ready to play against host Northwestern on Wednesday night in Evanston, Ill.
After all, the Illini are 13-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten, and have won five games in a row while the Wildcats are 8-8 and 0-5 and have lost three straight overall and seven consecutive games against power conference foes this season.
Illinois has lost at Northwestern each of the last three seasons, and Wildcats coach Chris Collins said he believes his team “very easily could be 4-1” in Big Ten play.
Perhaps that’s a quote Illinois coach Brad Underwood just might share with his players to keep them from being overconfident.
“You come on the road and you battle the way we did these last two games, I give our guys a lot of credit for that,” Collins told WGN-AM after Sunday’s 77-75 overtime loss at Rutgers. “And now it’s going to be a challenge. You know, when you come up a little short, do you keep doing it? Do you keep battling? Do we keep fighting? Or do you let go of the rope?
“We’ve got to continue to fight. We’ve played five (league) games, and we come up brutally short in four of the five, right? I mean, we very easily could be 4-1. But we’re not. … We’ve got to keep fighting to get better.”
Is Collins’ 4-1 estimate realistic? After getting blown out from the jump in their Big Ten opener Dec. 3 at Wisconsin, the Wildcats lost their last four conference games by a combined 22 points — to Ohio State, Minnesota, then-No. 9 Michigan State, and then Rutgers.
But Northwestern senior forward Nick Martinelli, who leads the nation in scoring at 24.1 points per game, has yet to lose to the Illini at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Illinois doesn’t have a defender who matches Martinelli’s 6-foot-7 muscular frame. Last season in Evanston, they tried to guard him with bigger players, and he scored 27 points in his team’s 70-66 overtime win. On Wednesday, Underwood likely will ask 6-2 senior Kylan Boswell to handle the job.
Boswell was primarily responsible for Iowa point guard Bennett Stirtz on Sunday, and Stirtz suffered through a 5-for-17 shooting day from the field.
While Stirtz finished with 12 points, Boswell piled up 17 points and three steals.
“It’s amazing when he’s that dialed-in how his offense comes along and his rebounding,” Underwood said of Boswell. “Kylan’s unique. He’s got a great, great base. He’s got great strength and he’s got ultra-quick hands. … He finds a way to annoy. He’s strong. He picks your pocket. He fights over screens.”
Boswell ranks second on Illinois with an average of 14.7 points per game, but the Illini might be the most balanced offense in the country. Keaton Wagler (15.7), Andrej Stojakovic (14.5) and David Mirkovic (12.4) also average in double figures.
Mirkovic averages a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game.
