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A Top Ten matchup in the Big Ten takes place on Friday night when the #9 Illinois Fighting Illini (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten) travel to take on the #1 Purdue Boilermakers (13-1, 2-1 Big Ten). Illinois just destroyed Northwestern at home, winning 96-66 and easily covering the 5.5-point spread as favorites. Purdue took a road trip to defeat Maryland 67-53, winning comfortably as 6.5-point road favorites. These teams only met once last season with Purdue winning by five at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 EST from Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana and can be found on FS1.
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The Illinois basketball program recently suspended their top scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. after he was charged with rape. Many were wondering how Illinois would respond in their first true test without him against Northwestern. Well, they beat the Wildcats by 30, the same Northwestern team that handed Purdue their only loss of the season. Illinois held the lead all game and it was never close. Marcus Domask led the way with 32 points, and Quincy Guerrier had a double-double with 14 points and ten boards in the win.
Domask now takes on the role of the top scorer on the team, he is a 6'6 senior and is coming off the 32 point game against Northwestern. Domask averages 13.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG, and has scored in double figures in his last four games. Quincy Guerrier is the team's top rebounder at 7.4 per game, and is second in scoring with 11.0 per game. He is a 6'8 senior forward who has had dou ble-doubles in his last two games. Coleman Hawkins is a strong 6'10 post player who moves well and can do a little of everything. Hawkins is in his senior season and is averaging 10.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG. The Illini are big inside, their next top scorer is another post player as Dain Dainja is a 6'9, 270-pound forward adding another 7.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG.
Illinois is currently ranked 8th overall according to KenPom. Their offense ranks 12th in efficiency and their defense ranks 18th. The Illini play relatively fast as they rank 62nd in tempo out of 362 Division I teams in pace of play.