The Indiana Hoosiers currently lead the Big Ten and will look to keep their upward trend going as they travel to Champaign to face the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Hoosiers are potentially closing in on a five seed or better plus a Big Ten regular season championship. But first, they will have to get through Thursday's matchup at Illinois in which they could potentially be shorthanded.

Last Time Out

On Saturday, Indiana welcomed in their rival, the Purdue Boilermakers, and came away with an impressive 77-73 win. Troy Williams and Yogi Ferrell scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, in front of what was a fantastic crowd at Assembly Hall.

Indy Star
Indy Star

As for Illinois, they are coming off of a tough 69-60 road loss on Sunday night at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers. Going to Madison is always a tough task, and the Fighting Illini were on the wrong end of a 17-0 run which was enough to bury them on that night.

When these two teams met back on January 19, the Hoosiers came away with a big 103-69 win.

Scouting Report: Illinois

John Groce's Fighting Illini team has had a tough time this season as they are third to last in the conference with a 4-10 record. Three of their four wins in conference came against Rutgers University twice and the Minnesota Golden Gophers (the two teams below them), plus an upset of Purdue back in January. It hasn't been the season they have wanted and they are limping to to finish line.

Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois has battled injuries all year and are currently without three players in Mike Thorne, Leron Black and Tracy Abrams, all three who could be starting or playing significant minutes while contributing for this team in a big way. These three guys are big losses, but if the Fighting Illini have any chance at all, it comes through play makers Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill.

Hill and Nunn combine to average 35 points per game while Hill is the team's leading scorer with 18.6 points per game. When these two teams met the first time around, Hill scored a team high 20 points while Nunn chipped in 10 points as these two were the only players for Illinois to score in double figures. If Illinois has a chance to beat Indiana, they will have to play like they did against Purdue where the combined to score 52 points in the upset win.

Another contributor is freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands, who averages 9.6 points per game, and is the team's best three point shooter at 40 percent from behind the arc.

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Down in the post is Maverick Morgan whose role has increased with the injuries and has played in every game for the Fighting Illini. Morgan averages 7.4 points per game and leads the team with a 57.7 field goal percentage.

Illinois will be hoping to keep this a bit closer than the first time they played, but the Fighting Illini will have to lock down on defense as this Hoosiers offense will look to exploit the Illinois defense that gives up 74.3 points per game.

What This Game Means For Indiana

Indiana comes into this game controlling their own destiny for an outright Big Ten title. This could be one of those matchups that could be looked at as a potential trap game much like Penn State was a few weeks back. It's a road game against a much lesser opponent and Indiana could be missing one of their best perimeter defenders in Robert Johnson.

If the Hoosiers get out to a fast start like they did in their first meeting with Illinois, things should take care of themselves, but with it being a road game, you just never know in the Big Ten.

Chris Howell - Herald Times
Chris Howell - Herald Times

Without Johnson, they will look to someone off of the bench to step up and fill in that "next man up" mantra that Ferrell mentioned in his postgame press conference after the win against Purdue. That could be someone like OG Anunoby or Nick Zeisloft jumping into the starting five or seeing someone like Harrison Niego getting some solid minutes off the bench. Coach Tom Crean has this team in a great spot and it would be a big bummer to the Indiana faithful, and the team, to fall into a trap in Champaign on Thursday night.

This is a game that the Hoosiers have a chance to prove something in, but it is a bit different than their game next Tuesday at Iowa. It isn't looked at like Iowa will be on Tuesday, but they can still go out and have a dominating performance and continue their trend upwards.

What To Expect

When you look at this matchup on paper, you see an Indiana team looking to win a Big Ten title and an Illinois team limping to the finish line. On the hardwood Thursday night, expect a similar result.

KenPom gives the Hoosiers a 73 percent chance to win and has a final score of 79-72. The Hoosiers cracked the century mark back on January 19 while the Fighting Illini couldn't get to 70. The Hoosiers haven't turned in a dominating performance on the road this season and just for that reason, this game doesn't seem like it will be a blowout.

If Indiana plays their game on the road and can get that next man to step up off the bench, expect the Hoosiers to breeze through Champaign with a big win. If that isn't the case however and Illinois is playing like they did in their win against Purdue, that could spell trouble for the Hoosiers.

Prediction:

Indiana 84, Illinois 73

Game Info

Tip off is scheduled for 9:00 pm EST on ESPN (Rece Davis, Dan Dakich, & Seth Greenberg) from the State Farm Center.

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About the author
Josh Eastern
I live in Seattle, Washington and attend Indiana University as a journalism major. You can follow me on Twitter (@JoshEastern) and feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions/thoughts.