3 Big Questions for Illinois Basketball at Rutgers

Slowing Scarlet Knights freshman swingman Ace Bailey will be at the top of the Illini's to-do list Wednesday

Feb 2, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Evan Mahaffey (12) reaches for the ball as Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kylan Boswell (4) has possession during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

After yet another up-and-down week that saw Illinois (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) fall 80-74 in overtime at Nebraska before taking down Ohio State 87-79 at home, the Illini slid to No. 23 in the latest AP poll.

Kicking off their week on the East Coast, the Illini are set to take on Rutgers (11-11, 4-7 Big Ten), which has lost three of its past four and may again be without the services of freshman guard Dylan Harper (ankle sprain).

Here are three big questions that should help determine whether or not Illinois can put together its first back-to-back wins in nearly a month:

How will Illinois contain Ace Bailey?

Nebraska’s Brice Williams, who poured in 27 points against last week, is just the latest dynamic wing player to torch Illinois this season. The Illini need to find a solution sooner rather than later, because the 6-foot-10 Ace Bailey poses plenty of questions for which they seem to have no answers.

An NBA-caliber three-level scorer, Bailey can fill it up from anywhere on the court, but he largely prefers to attack from the wing – meaning Morez Johnson Jr. may not be Illinois' best option on defense. And given Kylan Boswell’s size limitations (6-foot-2), the Illini will mostly be forced to turn to a combination of Tre White, Ben Humrichous and heaping doses of help D to slow Bailey. If Harper remains out, Illinois figures to take its chances that Bailey's teammates won't have enough to make up the difference.

Can the Illini finally get back on track from deep?

After Sunday’s 4-for-20 (20.0 percent) showing from long distance, the Illini have now played five straight games without surpassing the 30-percent mark from three-point range – and they have only shot in the 30s twice in the past nine games. Fortunately for them, they’ve drawn a matchup with the Big Ten’s worst three-point defense: Rutgers is allowing opponents to shoot 34.1 percent from beyond the arc – a number three percentage points higher than Illinois’ season average from range (31.1 percent).

If the Illini can’t find any level of long-range consistency against the Scarlet Knights, then it will officially be time to start questioning whether a high-volume three-point-shooting design is a viable approach moving forward.

Will Illinois' offensive rebounders show out?

On the season, the Scarlet Knights have collected 798 total rebounds – just one more than the 797 their opponents have combined to grab. For a Big Ten squad that has played nearly one-third of its schedule against mid-majors, a rebounding margin that's basically even should be a concern – especially when the next matchup comes against the top rebounding squad in the country.

Specifically, Illinois has been living off the offensive glass recently, averaging 17.3 offensive boards over its past three contests. Johnson helped spark the Illini's second-half comeback win over Ohio State with seven offensive rebounds – including one on which he called for a teammate to shoot the three rather than make the entry pass when he had position inside. The hulking Johnson just collected the miss and finished at the rim. If the Scarlet Knights can't find a way to keep the Illini boxed out, they're cooked.

This freshman doesn't play like a freshman 💪@IlliniMBB's @morezjohnsonJr keeps getting after it.#B1GMBBall on CBS 📺 pic.twitter.com/N7PLE4Xyj2

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 2, 2025

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