Way-Too-Early Scouting Report: Illinois

A way-too-early look at the Illinois Fighting Illini basketball team. The Tennessee Volunteers will face off against them on December 9th.

In a much-anticipated matchup during the non-conference college basketball schedule, the Tennessee Volunteers will face off against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

It is the second of two Big Ten matchups, as the Vols will also travel to the Kohl Center earlier in the season to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The Vols are 2-1 against Illinois all-time in basketball. The last matchup was back during the 1987-88 season, where Illinois crushed Tennessee 103-79. That game was in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. The other two games came before that one in Thompson-Boling Arena and were wins for the Volunteers.

Last season, the Illini finished 20-13 overall and 11-9 in the Big Ten. It was a relatively good regular season for them, but their postseason lacked anything noteworthy. Illinois lost in their opening game of the Big Ten tournament to Penn State and the NCAA tournament; they fell in the first round to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Illini have a few very key contributors coming back, though. Terrence Shannon Jr. was a scoring machine for them with a 17.2 points per game average. Despite losing both matchups, he dropped 19 and 20 points in Illinois's postseason losses.

Another big contributor who is coming back is Coleman Hawkins. He was a highly efficient rebounder, averaging 6.9 per game last season. His aggression and huge size at 6 feet and 10 inches tall help Illinois win battles against opponents on the low block. He also was a big-time blocker for the team, averaging over one a game last year, and his interior defense helped to give Illinois a base. Hawkins and Shannon also led the Illini last season in assists at 1st and 2nd on the last year's roster, respectively. There is no tip-off time quite yet for this game. But Tennessee will play Illinois on Saturday, December 9th. 

Tennessee HC Rick Barnes

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