Preview: Illini return home to take on IUPUI

After a great week that saw Illinois beat NC State and then travel to Miami and handle VCU, the Illini are back home this week for a pair of games against lesser squads beginning with a Tuesday night tilt with IUPUI.

The Illini are back talking about an NCAA berth but will need to take care of business this week if they want to stay that way.

Here’s a look at the matchup.

Illinois (6-3) vs. IUPUI (3-5)

Dec. 6, 2016 // 7 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center (15,544)

Internet Stream: ESPN3 (WatchESPN.com) – Jordan Bernfield (Play-By-Play), Homer Drew (Analyst)

Radio: Fighting Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas (Analyst)

*Illinois carries a two-game winning streak after defeating N.C. State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and VCU in the Hoophall Miami Invitational. The victory over VCU was the 1,750th win in program history. The Illini are the NCAA’s 14th-winningest team all-time.

*Senior guard Tracy Abrams is 11 points away from scoring 1,000 for his career.

*Illinois carries a two-game winning streak after defeating N.C. State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and VCU in the Hoophall Miami Invitational. The victory over VCU was the 1,750th win in program history. The Illini are the NCAA’s 14th-winningest team all-time.

*Today’s game is the Jaguars third of five trips to Illinois this year. The Jags have previously dropped games at SIUE and Illinois State and have forthcoming trips to Northwestern and W. Illinois.

*Senior guard Darell Combs was voted preseason First Team All-Summit League by the league’s coaches after being picked to the league’s All-Newcomer Team and 2nd Team All-League last season. Combs averaged a team-high 16.3 points and made 58 threes last year after sitting the previous season as a transfer.

*Head Coach Jason Gardner is the eighth head coach in the history of the program and is in his third year at the helm. The former Indiana Mr. Basketball and Arizona-star enters today with an 26-45 career record (15-17 in the Summit).

*Exactly 10 years ago today, IUPUI faced Illinois for the first (and only) time. The Illini dominated that matchup, 87-59 in Champaign.

*Year three looks to be a big year for Head Coach Jason Gardner and the IUPUI men’s program. Gardner’s team finished fourth in The Summit League a year ago and returns a core that includes the top two scorers from a year ago in Darell Combs (16.3 ppg) and Matt O’Leary (10.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg).

Combs was voted Second Team All-Summit League a year ago and was a preseason First Team All-Summit League selection this year. Meanwhile O’Leary, who owns a 3.79 and is majoring in Management, was an Academic All-District 5 selection. In addition, Gardner’s squad welcomes a pair of impact transfers in Kent State-graduate Kellon Thomas and Syracuse-transfer Ron “Buss” Patterson. Thomas started every game for the Flashes a year ago and led KSU in assists and threes made, while Patterson is a former top-150 recruit before originally committing to Indiana.

Stay focused – After looking like a CBI team two weeks ago, Illinois looked like an NCAA team last week. The Illini need to take care of business and dominate a lesser opponent with the same level of focus they had with their backs against the wall last week. A sense of urgency they need to bring every game the rest of this season.

Dominate the glass – IUPUI has greatly struggled on the glass, allowing teams to snare 35% of their misses while the Illini have grabbed double-digit offensive rebounds in each of the last four games, totaling 54 over this stretch (13.5 avg.). It is the UI’s most offensive boards over a four-game stretch since Jan. 4-12, 2014 (64). Illinois has a size advantage and needs to dominate the glass in this one as they define their rotations and find an identity.

Defend the 3 – Probably the best thing that IUPUI does on the offensive end is they don’t turn it over and they shoot it fairly well from 3-point range. The key for a team to pull an upset in a game like this is the 3-point line. The Illini must close out on shooters to make sure the Jaguars don’t hang around.

Going by recruiting rankings and the number of high major players that the Jaguars have, they should be a better team than they actually are. At 3-5 they are a bit disappointing. However, the Illini must take advantage of their poor play thus far and dominate this one. Expect a solid 81-64 win for the Illini.