Three In The Key: What to Look For From Illini vs. Hawaii

Illini Maven/Sports Illustrated gets you set for this Illini basketball game vs. a 3-1 Hawaii squad with another 'Three in the Key' piece.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- After Illinois has had eight days of preparation following a west coast road trip that saw many correctable things in a 21-point loss at Arizona, the Illini will try to make it two straight home wins in a row as they take on Hawaii (3-1) for a 7 p.m. tip tonight on ESPNU.

Hawaii, which was projected to finish fourth in the Big West Conference preseason poll, will see its first road test of the 2019-20 season at the State Farm Center and have a breakout scorer. Senior guard Eddie Stansberry has three straight 20-point games, including a career-high 28 points in Hawaii’s win over Portland State on Friday. Chris Gerlufsen continues to serve as acting head coach through the first four games while head coach Eran Ganot is on temporary medical leave.

Before every game of the 2019-20 season, we’ll take a look at three things you’ll want to watch for after tip.

Game 4: Hawaii at Illinois

Date/Time/Place: Monday, Nov. 18, 2019: 7 p.m. CST, State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.

Capacity: 16,618

Records: Hawaii 3-1; 18-13, 9-7 in Big West Conference in 2018-19. Illinois 2-1; 12-21, 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19.

Line: Illinois by 15.5

Series notes: Illinois leads 7-0. The Illini have won all seven of the previous matchups, including two in Champaign. Five of the meetings have been decided by single-digits including a one-point OT win by Illinois in the last meeting in 2012.

TV: ESPNU

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Doug Altenberger (analyst) and Steve Kelly (Pre/HT/Post)» The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius/XM 972 and at FightingIllini.com.

1) Has Illinois solved its turnover bug?

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said the last eight days of preparation has been about a self-evaluation period after his team came back from Arizona averaging 20.67 turnovers per game. Andres Feliz, who had been one of the most reliable members of the Illini backcourt, had seven turnovers in the 90-69 loss at No. 14 Arizona. Underwood continues to try and find lineup combinations, ball-handlers and options to limit the unforced turnovers but a stretch of four in a row turned a one-point deficit into a blowout win for the Wildcats last week. Hawaii, which forces only 12.5 turnovers per game could be a nice test for the Illini to build some offensive cohesion as they embark on a four-game in eight-day stretch.

Illinois freshman Kofi Cockburn was the league's first Freshman of the Week this season after averaging 14 points and 10.7 rebounds against Nicholls State and Grand Canyon / University of Illinois athletics department photo

2) Will Hawaii’s size bother Kofi Cockburn? 

Kofi Cockburn was the inaugural Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree for the 2019-20 season after averaging 14.0 points and 10.7 rebounds. Cockburn had a historic start to his collegiate career, becoming the first Illini freshman in 37 years to record double-doubles in each of his first two games. Cockburn debuted with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the season-opening win over Nicholls, then recorded game highs of 23 points and 14 boards in the victory at Grand Canyon. However, Hawaii’s length and pair of 7-footers (including freshman 250-pound starter Dawson Carper) in its rotation may disrupt any ability for the Illini to throw the ball into the post in early possessions. The Illini, which are only shooting 29.2 percent from 3-point range, will need to hit open perimeter shots to allow for the inside game to flourish.

3) Can Illinois establish an offensive identity?

Underwood talked Saturday about going “back to basics”. This is all fine and good but the third-year Illini coach has also talked about establishing an offensive identity with this squad early on.

One of the major pieces to fit in is Giorgi Bezhanishvili. If the sophomore is able to find a more consistent offensive game, it could translate to Illinois find a quicker and more effective pace at which to play in. Also, the turnover issue plays an enormous factor as well. It’ll be interesting how the Illini choose to attack an Hawaii team that stands 6-foot-3, 6-3, 6-6, 6-9 and 7-feet in its starting lineup but statistically doesn’t dominate the backboard as those heights would suggest.

Prediction:

I can see one of Illinois’ guards having a monster game tonight but somebody will need to guard Hawaii’s leading scorer Eddie Stansberry. In the last five halves of basketball, Stansberry has gone a combined 23-of-37 from the field (62 percent), 13-of-19 on threes (68 percent) and a perfect 16-of-16 from the line. Stansberry scored 21 points in the second half against South Dakota as Hawaii nearly erased an 11-point deficit. I would think that responsibility could be placed on Ayo Dosunmu but I don’t think Underwood wants him to have that assignment for 40 minutes as a load management issue for his offensive game.

Illinois 77, Hawaii 68