This is a pretty big game because the winner will be in position to challenge MSU for the Big Ten title & the loser could practically be out of the title race by being 3-losses behind MSU.
The Illini lead the Big Ten in 3-point % defense at 27.6% ... that tells me it is unlikely for Diebs to have a breakout game (UM is #2 in 3PT% defense). Illinois also leads the conference in scoring defense, yielding only 57.0 ppg while their offense is #1 in team FG% at 47.9%. They're also #1 in Assists per game and A/TO ratio. Illinois seems to be a team with several guys who can either have big nights or kind of disappear - of their four players who average double figures in points, three of them have scored in single digits in 7 or more of their 18 games this season and the other has had games of 1, 2, 2 and 4 points, but all four have had at least one 20+ point game this season. They really have a pretty good mix of guys and there's always someone who steps up for them. Mike Tisdale in particular seems to be a boom or bust type of guy - he is thin and prone to getting in foul trouble, so attacking him would seem to be a good strategy.
Illinois' Chester Frazier reportedly suffered a bruised tailbone in the MSU loss ... gives new meaning to getting your a@@ kicked.
Illinois doesn't shoot as many 3s as most teams in the Big Ten (although they do shoot a pretty good percentage on 3s).
The Illini might have two of the Big Ten's assist leaders, but Jeremie Simmons is #5 in the conference in A/TO ratio and only one of Illinois' assist leaders is in the top 5, so there!
